Patient rights in the Iranian hospitals accreditation system: Explanation of challenges

Accreditation of hospitals plays an important role in promoting the quality, safety and effectiveness of medical services, and increasing the efficiency of hospitals. The effectiveness of the accreditation system depends on the quality of the accreditation standards, the comprehensiveness of the accreditation method, and the quantity and quality of the accreditation appraiser. There is a need for appropriate metrics to review and evaluate the implementation of the charter of patients’ rights in the accreditation of hospitals. The aim of this study was to explain the challenges of patients’ rights in the Iranian hospitals accreditation system.

This qualitative study was conducted using a conventional content analysis approach with the participation of 13 key informants. In parallel with the interviews, with the aim of assessing the comprehensiveness, the coverage of the patients’ rights components was assessed by accreditation metrics in four sessions. Data analysis was conducted using the Graneheim and Lundman method.

The challenges of the accreditation system were explained by two categories "Content deficiencies of hospitals accreditation standards", "Managerial challenges of accreditation system".

Accreditation has an effective and serious role in the improvement of hospital services and can be a good monitor for observing the rights of service recipients and the charter of patients’ rights. This study provides useful information on the content deficiencies of the country's accreditation standards in terms of service recipients’ rights and its implementation challenges that can be used by policy makers.