فهرست مطالب farahnaz sadoughi

The Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud computing are two recent technological advances whose potential have not been realized in a range of industries. These technologies have been used in healthcare systems to improve their performance. In this regard, the IoT generates a large amount of data; also, cloud computing is a viable option for data storage and complex computing. The purpose of this study is to identify and categorize various aspects of CIoT-based healthcare in terms of main application domains, sensors, wireless communication technologies, messaging protocols, cloud platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

We conducted a literature systematic review and reported according to the PRISMA guideline. PubMed, IEEE, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched using the related keywords and their synonyms. Two independent authors reviewed the papers' eligibility according to the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Of the 2,118 papers retrieved, 61 were eventually selected in the study. Results of the present study revealed that the majority of CIoT research works were applied to patient monitoring systems and cardiovascular patient monitoring systems using Amazon and IBM dominating Cloud platforms. In addition, the most widely used communication technologies for CIoT in healthcare are cellular networks (3G and 4G), Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. Cardiovascular, environmental, and position sensors are also the most common types of sensors used in healthcare CIoT applications. Among the Cloud platform providers, Amazon and IBM have the highest utility in healthcare systems. The majority of the included studies used Cloud-based AI algorithms to diagnose, classify, and predict diseases.

The integration of the Cloud into the IoT can support healthcare systems in terms of processing power, storage capacity, security, privacy, performance, reliability, and scalability. We suggest researchers conduct experimental studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the CIoT approach in healthcare applications.

Problems facing the health information systems and the potential of cloud computing make the use of this technology as a priority for healthcare organizations to migrate to the cloud. The purpose of the present study is to introduce a migration framework for health information systems to the cloud.

This study is a Mix method research that was performed in the first stage to identify the relevant factors of a qualitative study until the initial design of the resu lting framework was obtained and, in the second phase using the two - stage quantitative Delphi method the framework was evaluated.

The overall component of the proposed framework, which had 149 components consists of four layers of governmental, ex ecutive, organizational and technical three major groups of stakeholders in government, the service providers (CSPs) and the service consumers (CSCs).

Cloud computing is a new issue in the health, and the cloud migration process is one of the c ost - effective solutions for managing health information systems. Due to the lack of knowledge of health executives on cloud computing, they may not be able to make appropriate decisions on doing the migration. Thus, having a comprehensive framework in addi tion to enhancing the knowledge decision makers will help them make better decisions while at the same time planning a roadmap for successful migration.

The two main pillars of asthma management include regular follow-up and using guidelines in the treatment process. Patient portals enable regular follow-up of disease, and guideline-based decision-support-systems can improve the use of guidelines in the treatment process. Based on the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) and Snell’s drug interaction, asthma management system in primary care (AMSPC) includes the capabilities of both mentioned systems. This system was developed to improve regular follow-up and use GINA in the asthma management process. This study aimed to assess the accuracy and usability of the AMSPC based on the GINA and Snell’s drug interaction. To assess the accuracy of the system, kappa test was used to calculate the degree of agreement between the suggestions made by the system and the physician’s decision for a total of 64 patients selected through convenience sampling method. To assess usability, the Questionnaire for User Interface Satisfaction (QUIS) was used. The scores of the Kappa for the agreements between the system and the physician in determining “drug type and dosage”, “follow-up time”, and “drug interactions” were 0.90, 0.94, and 0.94, respectively. The average score of the QUIS was 8.6 out of 9. Due to the high accuracy of the system in computerizing the GINA and Snell’s drug interaction, as well as its proper usability, it is expected that the system be widely used to improve asthma management and reduce drug interactions.

Evaluation of electronic prescribing systems (EPS) can contribute to their quality assurance, and motivate users and policy-makers to implement these systems, directly influencing the health of society. An appropriate evaluation tool plays a determining role in the identification of proper EPS. The present study aimed to develop a multifaceted evaluation tool for assessing the EPS. This study was conducted in two main steps in 2018. In the first step, we conducted a literature review to find the main features and capabilities of the prosperous EPS. In the second step, a Delphi method was used for determining the final criteria for evaluating EPS. After preparing a primary questionnaire based on the first step results, 27 expert stakeholders from related fields participated in this 3-phase Delphi study. The narrative content analysis and descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. The final evaluation tool consists of 61 questions in 10 main dimensions, including practical capabilities of the process/user and patient safety, data storage and transfer, prescription control and renewal, technical functions, user interfaces, security and privacy, reporting, portability, hardware and infrastructure, and system failure/recovery. The evaluation tool developed in this study can be used for the critical appraisal of features of EPS. It is recommended that this multifaceted evaluation tool be employed to help buyers compare different systems and assist EPS software vendors in prioritizing their activities regarding the system development. By using this tool, healthcare organizations can also choose a system that improves many aspects of health care.

 People with hearing impairments have not accessed well to health information sources compared to people with normal  hearing. The study aims to show the status of electronic health literacy in persons with hearing impairments. The methodology was content analysis based on of Graneheim, B. Lundman’s pattern. Thirty-five participants with hearing impairments and 14 persons with normal hearing were selected. Sampling started with the purposive method and continued until data saturation. A total of 76 semi-structured interviews were made and analyzed using MaxQDA 10.4.15.1.  The current state of electronic health literacy in people with hearing impairment was emerged as a theme, included three main categories contains poor electronic health literacy, underlying causes for poor electronic health literacy, and consequences of low electronic health literacy in persons with hearing impairment. Poor electronic health literacy consists of poor online health information seeking skills, poor understanding, and processing of online health information, and poor evaluation of online health information. Four main subcategories for  poor electronic health literacy were unequal access to conventional health information, incongruous health communication, lack of considering persons with hearing impairment in producing health education programs, and poor electronic health information sources for persons with hearing impairment. In addition, consequences of low electronic health literacy are composed of two subcategories, including reliance on available information sources and the promotion of misconceptions in the deaf community.  Low theoretical and applied knowledge about various aspects of health might be the main factor in people with hearing impairments that influences their nature of deafness and obstacles to access health information sources Online content generation fitting the needs of those persons recommended creating access to health information for them. In addition to this, the development and enhancement of information searching skills, understanding and processing, evaluation, and use of online health information are essential.

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in the use of herbal medicines. Quality control and safety are two critical principles to be considered in the production process of herbal medicines. This review study aimed to investigate the condition of the countries other than Iran in terms of observing the safety principles, quality control, and meeting the standard of herbal drug use. In this systematic review, references were selected using the search terms "health-care quality" and "challenges of herbal medicine usage" from the databases "Web of Science" and "PubMed" published between 2000 and 2019. To select the resources among the selected literature, confirmation was accomplished by two researchers and Cohen’s kappa coefficient (κ). The selected papers were classified based on publication year, journal, country, reference standards, regulation, toxicity evaluation, quality control, efficacy, safety, and adverse effects in herbal medicine. From 1532 retrieved papers, 27 papers with an estimated Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.81 were confirmed and included in the study. Based on the analysis, the main findings of the papers were thematically classified into seven subcategories as follows: reference standards in herbal medicine, regulation of herbal medicinal products, toxicity evaluation for herbal products, quality control of herbal medicine, efficacy, adverse effects of herbal medicine, and safety. Given the significance of the effects of herbal medicines on health care quality, it is essential to codify guidelines on the proper use of these drugs.

To identify the main causes of malnutrition in childhood, it is necessary to collect quality and coherent data at the national level, which requires the creation of a minimum data set. Therefore, the present study aimed to design a minimum set of malnutrition data for children under five years of age.

This quantitative applied study was conducted in two stages in 2019. In the first step, the descriptive-comparative method was used to compare the data elements needed for malnutrition in children under five at the national and international levels. In the second stage, the initial MDS was designed and then validated by experts in two rounds using the Delphi method. The study population was composed of 30 experts in nutritionists and pediatrics who were selected by non-random purposive sampling (criterion Sampling) finally, the cases reached a collective agreement of more than 75% were included in the MDS. The items with a score below 50% were excluded from the proposed MDS. The collected data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and Excel software.

Approved MDS for malnutrition in children under five had 56 data elements and seven subsets, including child development, demographic and management, clinical and diagnostic examinations, nutritional status, medical history, and tests.

The development of MDS plays an important role in improving the quality of information management and early detection of childhood malnutrition. In order to gather uniform data, achieve an integrated information system, and facilitate the sharing of malnutrition data, it is recommended to use this MDS.

One of the most effective ways to improve the management of asthma in primary care is using guidelines in the patient management process; but due to lack of time, their use is very limited. One way to solve this problem is mechanized guideline in a form of decision-support system that requires computer-interpreted guideline (CIG). In this study, a CIG was developed for asthma management in primary care.

This qualitative study was performed using mini-Delphi method uses a workflow-based approach to develop a CIG. The workflows and data components were extracted through Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) language and Enterprise Architecture (EA) software. Afterwards, they were confirmed through an expert panel of five asthma specialists.

The developed CIG included three major workflows, four sub-workflows, and 21 data components. Main workflows included treatment, drug interaction, and follow-up time. Sub-workflows were related to treatment workflow that were developed based on the patient visit number and age.

Because the accuracy of this workflow was confirmed by asthma specialists, it is expected that the design of this CIG will lead to development of a cost-effective software for the management of asthma and better detection of drug interactions.

The significant usage of health websites and their roles as diagnostic and therapeutic tools have increased the importance of evaluating their credibility. Health websites are evaluated using the criteria introduced in the health guidelines; therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the adequacy of these criteria.

In this critical review study, the guidelinesfor "Health Websites Evaluation" and "Website Evaluation in Other Subject Areas" were extracted using sensitive keywords from valid databases, classification, comparison and content analyses were performed using scientific methods designed in this study.

The results indicate that in terms of various components of health websites, the evaluation criteria are not adequate. Note that health website evaluation criteria are designed based on the evaluation criteria of other subject areas. Therefore, the criteria share problems similar to those of the guidelines for other subject areas, and they ignore the evaluation of the specific features of health websites. It is necessary to have reliable and accurate guidelines to evaluate health websites.

One of the most significant advantages of these guidelines is that using software provides an infrastructure for the automatic evaluation of health websites. Thus, the evaluation results will be available to the general public in the form of awebsite ranking.

Teleoncology refers to the use of telemedicine for remotely providing multiple specialized services in clinical oncology processes, including screening, diagnosis, treatment planning, consultation, supportive care, pathology, surgery, and follow-up services.

The aim of this study was to identify the required data elements and elicitation of requirements for developing a telemedicine system that aims at providing treatment plans for patients with breast cancer.

In this study, the required data elements for the teleoncology system were identified through both the investigation of clinical guidelines and review of patients’ medical records. Identified data elements were determined by breast cancer specialists through the questionnaire. Besides, an interview method was applied to elicit the requirements of this system.

The identified data elements were categorized into 20 groups (e.g., clinical data, breast physical examinations, pathological results, tests, imaging results, etc.). From the 182 data elements included within the questionnaire, 125 were recognized to be necessary (n = 32, 100%). The lowest mean percentage were observed in magnesium blood test (Mg) (n = 21, 65.63%) and protein test (Pr) (n = 21, 65.63%). Other data elements with a minimum mean of 71.87% and a maximum mean of 100% were recognized necessary. In general, 2 major themes, 9 categories, and 45 related sub-categories were extracted from analyzing the findings of the interviews related to the system requirements.

The findings of the present study can be used as a basis for developing teleoncology systems that aim at providing treatment plans for patients with breast cancer.

Asthma is uncontrolled in more than half of asthma patients due to inadequate and incorrect management. The main reasons for inadequate management are non-adherence, inadequate knowledge of a general practitioner about patientchr('39')s clinical condition, and not following asthma management guidelines The purpose of this study was to develop a conceptual model for the asthma management system in primary care

In this study, according to the guideline of the Global Initiative for Asthma, workflows for the management of asthma were extracted. Then, the conceptual model of the system was developed with unified modeling language and evaluated by an expert panel, including five asthma and allergy specialists, three informatics specialists and two health information management experts who were selected through non-probability sampling method. Data collection tools were the discussion framework with open-ended questions that reached a collective agreement after discussion on the conceptual model. The collective agreements were applied simultaneously to the diagrams of the conceptual model.

The conceptual model was developed and evaluated in 10 diagrams, including business use-case, use-case, activities, sequences and class diagrams. The diagrams were reported after evaluation. The business use-case shows the main use-case, and the use-case diagrams show the more detailed use-case which is used for the system. The activity diagram shows how the patient was admitted, visited, and managed. The sequence diagram and the class diagram also present the order of asthma management operation, the objects required by the asthma management, and how they are related, respectively.

Given the validity of the conceptual model by asthma and allergy specialists together with informatics and health information management, it can be expected that the current conceptual model will significantly help to design and implement efficient systems that meet the needs of users.

This review study aimed to compare the electronic prescription systems in five selected countries (Denmark, Finland, Sweden, England, and the United States). Compared developed countries were selected by the identified selection process from the countries that have electronic prescription systems. Required data were collected by searching the valid databases, most widely used search engines, and visiting websites related to the national electronic prescription system of each country and also sending E‑mails to the related organizations using specifically designed data collection forms. The findings showed that the electronic prescription system was used at the national, state, local, and area levels in the studied countries and covered the whole prescription process or part of it. There were capabilities of creating electronic prescription, decision support, electronically transmitting prescriptions from prescriber systems to the pharmacies, retrieving the electronic prescription at the pharmacy, electronic refilling prescriptions in all studied countries. The patient, prescriber, and dispenser were main human actors, as well as the prescribing and dispensing providers were main system actors of the Electronic Prescription Service. The selected countries have accurate, regular, and systematic plans to use electronic prescription system, and health ministry of these countries was responsible for coordinating and leading the electronic health. It is suggested to use experiences and programs of the leading countries to design and develop the electronic prescription systems.

Internet of things is a hot topic in the modern age of information and communication technology has become pervasive in various industries, particularly in healthcare sector. The security and privacy issue has attracted a lot of attention and has become a controversial issue in this area. The purpose of this study was to identify security mechanisms of Internet of things in health and non-healthcare industries.

 The present study was a systematized review conducted by searching the Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, IEEE Xplore, and ProQuest databases from 2005 to 2019. After the elimination of duplicate cases, studies related to the purpose of the study were selected on the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria.

We found 71 out of 2340 studies, related to security mechanisms of Internet of things in the healthcare (four studies) and non-healthcare (67 studies) industries, which were then reviewed. Security mechanisms have been organized into 11 major categories, including cryptography, key distribution and management mechanisms, digital identity management, and system life-cycle maintenance management in both the healthcare and non-healthcare industries. The findings showed that six types of security mechanisms, including energy saving, secure design and physical protection of system hardware, intrusion detection and prevention system, trust management, secure routing, and fault detection and tolerance had not been addressed in the health industry.

Given the emergence of this technology in the healthcare industry and its security sensitivity to other industries, the findings of this study provide a broad insight for researchers, managers and information security professionals to encounter threats and attacks and develop a secure Internet of things architecture.

Self-care in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy is an important factor in controlling and reducing the side effects of chemotherapy which leads to a greater adherence to chemotherapy and improved quality of life. Given the role of smartphones in individuals' lives and their apparent capacities for self-care, the aim of this study was to present a mobile-based self-care application for patients with breast canceundergoing chemotherapy.

This applied developmental research was conducted in two stages. At first, needs assessment was performed to identify the needs of oncology and general surgery specialists and patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy. Then, the prototype of the application was designed under the Android platform. Finally, to evaluate the usability and satisfaction of users, the standard Quiz questionnaire version 5.5 was completed by 30 patients for one week. The data were analyzed by SPSS software version 21 using descriptive statistics.

According to the findings 32 elements (among 36) of the needs assessment questionnaire were considered as necessary by the participants. General features of the program included: patient profiles, side effects management, life style and system capabilities. The usability assessment of the application showed that the users rated the application as good with a mean score of 7.9 (out of nine points).

Mobile-based care applications can be used to help patients with breast cancer undergoing chemotherapy in managing side effects and obtaining self-care skills.

Clinical Governance (CG) is a strategy for providing responsive, accountable, patientcentered, high quality, safe and effective healthcare services through creating an appropriate organizational structure and culture. Development, implementation and monitoring clinical standards are also included in CG. This study aimed to assess the success of clinical governance implementation in hospitals in Khuzestan province, Iran.

This descriptive questionnaire survey was conducted in 2014 in 40 hospitals using a valid and reliable questionnaire covering seven dimensions of CG (i.e., management and leadership, employees’ education and management, clinical effectiveness, clinical audit, risk management, patient involvement, and information management). All clinical governance officers of hospitals were asked to complete the questionnaires. Overall, 40 questionnaires were returned. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. Ethical issues such as informed consent, voluntary participation, participants’ anonymity, information confidentiality and researchers’ objectivity in data collection, analysis and reporting were all considered.

The mean score of CG implementation success was 65.6 percent in Khuzestan province hospitals. About half of the hospitals were moderately successful in CG implementation. Hospitals achieved more success in employees’ education and management and less success in clinical effectiveness dimensions of clinical governance. Top managers’ and employees’ commitment and involvement in CG activities was critical for CG successful implementation.

Clinical governance was slightly successful in Khuzestan hospitals. However, strong management and leadership, managers’, employees’ and physicians’ participation, education and training, patient centeredness, evidence based practice, and clinical audits are necessary for successful implementation of CG in hospitals.

Identifying the factors and components of an electronic prescription system is of utmost importance in effective designing and implementation of this system. In this regard, the current study was conducted to determine the main factors affecting the national model of electronic prescription from the physicians’ point of view. This is a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical research carried out in 2015. Based on the census sampling method, 104 members of the board of directors of the Iranian general practitioners’ associations, general practitioners’ alumni association of Iran, and physicians owner of a website or weblog were selected as samples for this study. Data were collected using a valid and reliable questionnaire. After analyzing the data with SPSS software (v.16), a model was proposed using a regression algorithm. The findings indicated that accessing the current medication data and medication history of patients during prescription, and also creating the electronic patient medication record (ePMR) are the most important selective components for physicians with frequency percent of 92.1%. Moreover, from the physicians’ viewpoint, the method of “transmission of prescriptions to the central national database and retrieving prescriptions information from the selected pharmacy of the patient” had the highest priority (weight coefficient) in the model of the national electronic prescription system. Therefore, the Iranian prescription system is required to be developed based on the centralized architecture and national electronic prescription database.

Knowledge management and intellectual capital are key factors for organizations to achieve competitive advantage. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between knowledge management and intellectual capital in faculties affiliated with Iran University of Medical Sciences.

The participants of this applied study, conducted in 2018  consisted of 283 non-faculty instructors teaching at Iran University of Medical Sciences. Two standard questionnaires, Lawson’s Knowledge Management and Bontis’s Intellectual Capital questionnaires were used to collect data which were then analyzed by using SPSS software version 22. Moreover, Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure the relationship between knowledge management and intellectual capital.

According to the findings, the knowledge management status in the faculties of Iran University of Medical Sciences was 2.92 which was lower than the average. While the intellectual capital status in was 3.05 which was higher than the average. Also a positive and significant relationship was found between knowledge management and intellectual capital (r = 0.697, P = 0.001).

Considering the existence of a positive and significant relationship between intellectual capital and knowledge management, the officials are recommended to focus on strengthening the components of knowledge management and intellectual capital dimensions to enhance the intellectual capital, make the optimal use of human capital and implement knowledge management and expand it within the organization.

The Hospital Real-time Location Systems (HRTLS), deal with monitoring the patients, medical staff and valuable medical equipment in emergency situations. Therefore, the study aimed to propose Hospital Real-Time Location Systems based on the novel technologies in Iran. In this narrative-review, the articles and official reports on HRTLS, were gathered and analyzed from related textbooks and indexing sites with the defined keywords in English or Persian. The search of databases such as IDTechEx, IEEE, PubMed Central, Science Direct, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Scopus, Web of Science, Elsevier journals, WHO publications and Google Scholar was performed to reconfirm the efficiency of HRTLS from 2006 to 2017. Various technologies have been used in the current systems, which have led to the reduced error rate, costs and increased speed of providing the healthcare services. Applications of these systems include tracking of patient’s, medical staff and valuable medical assets. Besides, achieving the patient & staff satisfaction is among other basic applications of these Systems. The accurate data exchange and processes control are considered as positive aspects of this technology. HRTLS has great importance in healthcare systems and its efficiency in medical centers is reliable; hence, it seems necessary to determine the organization’s requirements, apply novel technologies such as cloud computing and Internet of things, and integrate them to get access to maximum advantages in Iranian healthcare centers.

The advanced technologies in hospitals promises the entry into a novel era. Real-time locating systems are one of such technologies which could enable the tracking of patients, physicians, nurses and valuable equipment. The purpose of this study is to presenting the technologies used in real-time locating systems in healthcare field.
 

This study was a review-descriptive type and the research population was included documents related to the healthcare real-time location system. The search of databases (IEEE Xplore, Elsevier, Springer, Wiley online library, Science Direct, Emerald, PubMed, DOAJ, Web of Science, Taylor) and google scholar search engine between 2005 and 2018 was performed. 652 sources were retrieved, and then 19 sources were studied. For this purpose, the initial draft of data gathering form was designed in Excel software and the validity of the final form was confirmed after receiving the experts' comments and making necessary corrections. Then, the selected resources based on the objectives of the study were entered into the data gathering form and narrative synthesis was performed.
 

At present, different technologies are employed in real-time locating systems which could reduce costs and increase speed in the process of presenting healthcare services. These systems rely on radio communications and their positive dimensions include precise exchange of data and control of processes. Tracking patients and physicians as well as moving equipment in emergency cases, having access to information, satisfying the patients and staff, and reducing medical errors are among other fundamental applications of such system. 
 

According to the findings, the importance of using real-time location systems in healthcare field is very impressive and its performance is reliable. Thus, the necessity of using modern technologies in order to improve these systems is highly required.

Health care systems are known as complex systems, which are difficult to analyze and reengineer. Health system engineers often rely on Unified Modeling Language (UML) to model and simulate various parts of these systems. The purpose of the current study was to identify the most widely used and least-practicable UML diagrams as well as the range of applications of this language in the field of health care for documenting, analyzing, and designing an efficient system. The study was a systematize review. All the articles related to UML applications in the field of health care were extracted from March 2010 to July 2017 using valid keywords from the Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest, and Elsevier Scopus databases. After screening, 48 articles were selected and analyzed via two 12-hours concurrent sessions. Three diagrams of class, activity, and use case were the most usable UML diagrams, and four diagrams of component, collaboration, object, and profile were the least used diagrams in designing and modeling in various fields of health care, respectively. In addition, in the domain of applications, infrastructure group, disease management, and knowledge discovery had the highest use of UML, respectively. Considering the fact that UML applications scopes over all aspects of the system in three areas of disease management, knowledge discovery, and health care infrastructure both in software and hardware systems, designing and modeling this application domain with UML will facilitate the reengineering and promotion of organizations, and develop interactive systems to support the linkages between different parts of the health care system and collaboration between project partners

Mobile technology has provided new opportunities for health care systems. Improvement of health services outcomes in different patient groups is one of the benefits of using this tool. Although the use of mobile in Iran is expanding, there is no evidence of the state and the use of this technology in health system. The aim of this study was to review published researches on the application of mHealth in the health system of Iran.
In order to carry out a review study, Pubmed database was searched by the keyword "mobile Health" and its equivalents which have derived from the "Medical Subject Headings". Iranian databases including Iran medex, Magiran and Scientific Information Database (SID) were also searched for Persian and English terms of mobile health. Retrieval citations from information databases were sent to the endnote software and evaluated based on the considered criteria.
The research sample consisted of 26 articles that met the criteria of the study. In most of studies, text messaging was the main intervention tool of mHealth. The results indicated significant effect of mobile health in improving the patient's care.
In Iran, mobile health can be effectively used in the health system due to population structure and geographic extent. According to the results of this study, the use of mobile health, especially in educating patients for self-care and preventing the spread of diseases, can be very effective.

The implication of health literacy is the ability of individuals to find, understand, and use their required health information from reliable sources. It is an indicator of the individuals’ participation in their own medical decision-making. Deaf individuals have limited health literacy and poor health status due to low literacy. Hence, this review was conducted to understand barriers and facilitators influencing health literacy among deaf community.
We searched the ISI Web of Sciences, Scopus, and Medline from 1987 to 2016. Seventy-three papers were analyzed thematically.
We found three primary themes, including inadequate health literacy, barriers, and facilitators to accessing health information and health care services among deaf individuals. Facilitators were composed of four sub-theme including legal activities protecting the right of deaf patients to accessing health services, training health professionals about effective communication with deaf patients, providing sign language interpreter services, and developing deaf-tailored educational health programs and materials.
Closing the deaf cultural gap and their limited access to health information are achievable through the removal of the communication barriers, allowing deaf individuals with more access to health learning opportunities, and informing the hearing community about the communicative skills of deaf individuals.

Nowadays none of the fields of human knowledge has remained unaffected by informatics and information technology. Health and treatment categories are no exception to this, too. Therefore, this study was conducted aiming at evaluating the financial information system of educational hospital of JundiShapuor University of Medical Sciences in Ahvaz.
This research was an applied type in nature drawing upon a descriptive method. The study was carried out in hospitals affiliated to JundiShapuor University of Medical Sciences in 2013 to 2014 in Ahvaz. A questionnaire was made to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the financial information system. Data received from participants who were willing to answer the questions. Content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by the experts and its reliability was measured using SPSS software and Cronbach’s alpha method (89%).
The findings revealed that financial information system indices such as precise and correct financial calculations, support and classification of information, detailed services to patient report, report of purchase requests of sections, insurance bills of patients, and provision of processed financial information to the internal beneficiaries (as strong points) had a higher average than the features of communication with the internal and external information system and maximization of capital (as weak points).
The results of this study showed that the financial information system is in a moderate upward situation, which has improved and upgraded the financial information system of Ahwaz hospitals..

Background and The office of disaster management and emergency medical service is one of the most important subdivisions of the Ministry of health. Analyzing the tasks and functions of this office is critical to its evaluation. This study aimed at analyzing the information needs of this office to develop statistical indicators required.
This qualitative-quantitative study was carried out during 2015. The study population included the managers and expert panels in disaster management and emergency medical service in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education of Iran. We interviewed 14 individuals in different departments within the office and reviewed the administrative tasks and the available documents. After analyzing the data, different information needs of all departments were identified and classified.
According to the administrative tasks and practices, 69 groups of information needs were identified of which 17.4% are not met. 45.3% of the information needs did not have any standard sources or forms to collect the data required.
Lack of standard sources for the most identified information needs, decentralized information systems, and out-of-date information are the major problems of managers and expert panels. So, designing national standard forms to collect data, designing a comprehensive statistics and information system and reviewing current paper forms and databases seem to be essential.

The ability of managers to use accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information is an important factor for organizational success. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of information management in the successful implementation of clinical governance in the hospitals of Khuzestan province, Iran.
This descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 40 hospitals of Khuzestan province in 2014, using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire included 35 questions about 7 dimensions of clinical governance. All clinical governance managers of the hospitals were asked to complete the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (such as correlation coefficient and logistic regression) by SPSS 19.
The mean success rate of clinical governance in the hospitals of Khuzestan was 65.6 percent. The mean score of information management of clinical governance was 62.4 percent. There was statistically significant relationship between information management and successful implementation of clinical governance (P=0.01). Appropriate use of health technology and information systems by the staff, staff training in data documentation, and using hospital information in decision-making process, planning, control, and evaluation had great effect on the successful implementation of clinical governance.
Due to the important role of accurate, reliable, and up-to-date information and information management system in the successful implementation of clinical governance, hospital managers should provide necessary facilities for collection, analysis, and use of hospital information. Hospital staff should be trained in data documentation.