Assessment of Primary Healthcare System in Areas Covered by Family Physician Project in Southeastern Iran

Community's health depends on the primary healthcare sector of a country. In recent years, health systems have sought to assess the quality of services provided. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the primary health care system with the Primary Care Assessment Tool (PCAT) in areas covered by the family physician in southeastern Iran.

This was a descriptive-analytical study conducted cross-sectionally. It was performed on 330 recipients of services in health centers implementing the family physician project at Kerman, Bam, Jiroft and Rafsanjan Universities of Medical Sciences. The sampling method in this study was multistage. The instrument used in this study (PCAT) was based on the principles of primary care and is used as a tool to evaluate primary care. Data were analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test in the SPSS 19 software.

The findings of this study were in 2 groups of adults and children according to the categorization of the questionnaire. Regarding adults, the highest average score of the questionnaire was related to first encounter - utilization in Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, first encounter - access in Bam University, continuity of care in Rafsanjan University, coordination in Jiroft University, coordination of information systems in Kerman, comprehensiveness of services available in Bam, comprehensiveness of services provided in Rafsanjan's family-oriented care in Kerman, community-oriented care in Kerman, and cultural aspects of care in Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences. The difference between the average score in the dimension of the first encounter - utilization and the dimension of comprehensiveness of the services available in universities was significant (p < 0.05). In children, the highest average score was in the questionnaire is in the dimension of first encounter - utilization in Jiroft University of Medical Sciences, first encounter - access in Jiroft University, continuity of care in Rafsanjan University, coordination in Rafsanjan University, coordination of information systems in Kerman, comprehensiveness of services available in Rafsanjan. The comprehensiveness of services provided in Kerman, family-oriented care in Kerman, community-oriented care in Kerman, and cultural aspects of care in Jiroft University of Medical Sciences. The difference between the average score in the dimensions of the first encounter - utilization, coordination, coordination of information systems, comprehensiveness of available services, comprehensiveness of provided services, family-oriented care among universities was significant (p < 0.05).

The present study demonstrated that various aspects of primary care in the areas covered by the family physician project in southeastern Iran had a relatively satisfactory status. The difference in the mean score of primary care in the studied universities shows that although the basic physical structures and hardware of the family physician program are available, it is crucial to provide the necessary facilities to maintain and improve the quality of services provided.