Comparison of costs and quality of inpatient services before and after the Health reform plan

Given the importance of health and hygiene in society, financing healthcare is very important. Therefore, the government of Islamic Republic of Iran codified and implemented the health reform plan. The current study aimed to compare the costs and quality of admission services before and after the implementation of the health reform plan.
Material & In this descriptive-comparison study, patients admitted to Bu-Ali Hospital of Sari from October to December 2015 who had a history of hospitalization prior to the implementation of health reform plan were randomly selected. For data collection, the standard questionnaire developed by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and patients’ financial records were used. Patients answered the questionnaires as “before” and “after” the implementation of health reform plan and their answers were compared. Data was analysis using descriptive statistics and the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-test and ANOVA using SPSS software.
A total of 108 women (63.91%) and 61 men (36.09%) participated in the study. The admission, equipment and bed costs were lower before the plan (p=0.0001). Also, the quality of inpatient services increased after the plan (p=0.004). Quality of equipments and the medical team was not statistically different after the plan p>0.05). Quality of reception services, doctors and nurses, the availability of medicines and supplies increased after the implementation of plan but quality of nursing service and physical environment of the hospital reduced (p According to the study findings, it seems that the health reform plan needs to be comprehensively revised, and more accurate plans should be developed for improvement.