A Review of World Experiences in the Field of Financial Management of Family Medicine Program and Referral System

Improving the family medicine program requires a deep understanding of the matter. This study has been conducted to integrate global experiences in the field of referral system and family medicine in selected countries.

In this comparative study, leading countries in the field of referral systems and family physicians such as the United Kingdom, France and Italy, as well as countries with a similar situation to Iran such as Turkey, which have begun similar reforms in their health system at the same time as Iran were selected to be reviewed.

Presented in four parts, the results of this study consist of the referral condition in the selected countries, financing and methods of the payment, advantages of the referral and family physician systems, and also strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges of implementation system and family physician in the five selected countries.

A high percentage of public health needs can be covered in the form of primary health services and by first-line health care providers. The way to achieve this goal in many countries has been to restrict free access to specialized services in the form of a family physician and referral system . Informing and sensitizing family physicians about the financial consequences of their decisions and involving them in cashier affairs, as well as empowering them at the first level of the referral system to provide primary care and dealing with mistakes of their own and their peers at the first level of primary care comprise the most effective and efficient ways in effective implementation of this program.