Providing a Model of Acceptance of the Referral System From the Perspective of Patients

Referral system is one of the principles and foundations of primary health care services. One of the most important challenges and problems of the referral system is the lack of public awareness of its nature, services and benefits. The aim of this study was to provide a model for accepting the referral system from the perspective of patients.

This study was a mixed method that was conducted in three steps in 1400. The first step included the development of a questionnaire, the second step was a survey study, and the third step was the design of the acceptance model of the referral system from the perspective of patients. The statistical population included 384 patients covered by the Rural Insurance Fund referring to the Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex. The data were analyzed using SPSS v20 software. Also, Second-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (S-CFA) was performed using LISREL v8.5 software.

Cronbach's alpha ratio for the whole questionnaire was 0.85 and intra-cluster correlation coefficient was 0.69. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed that patient-centeredness, rules and regulations, responsiveness, coordination, security, accessibility, effectiveness, efficiency, personal beliefs and social influence significantly affected the acceptance of the referral system from patients' perspectives.

It is necessary for managers and policy makers before and during the implementation of the referral system to consider the factors affecting the acceptance of the referral system from the perspective of patients. For the appropriate implementation of the referral system, special attention should be paid to all the influencing factors so that patients can easy and convenient access health services anywhere and anytime.