Implementing hospital quality assurance policies in Iran: Balancing licensing, annual evaluation, inspections and quality management systems

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of applied hospital quality assurance (QA) policies in Iran. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed method (quantitative data and qualitative document analysis) study was carried out between 1996 and 2010. Findings – The QA policy cycle forms a tight monitoring system to assure hospital quality by combining mandatory and voluntary methods in Iran. The licensing, annual evaluation and grading, and regulatory inspections statutorily implemented by the government as a national package to assure and improve hospital care quality, while implementing quality management systems (QMS) was voluntary for hospitals. The government’s strong QA policy legislation role and support has been an important factor for successful QA implementation in Iran, though it may affected QA assessment independency and validity. Increased hospital evaluation independency and repositioning, updating standards, professional involvement and effectiveness studies could increase ...