Saeid Shahraz
1* 
, Sarvenaz Shahin
2 , Yosef Farzi
2, Mitra Modirian
2, Nazila Shahbal
3, Mehrdad Azmin
2, Farnam Mohebi
4, Mohammadreza Naderian
5, Masoume Amin-Esmaeili
6, Naser Ahmadi
2, Shahedeh Seyfi
2, Hossein Zokaei
2, Roya Samadi
7, Bahram Mohajer
2, Roya Sherafat-Kazemzadeh
8, Abbas Balouchi
9, Bita Mesgarpour
10, Mahboubeh Parsaeian
11, Fatemeh Gorgani
2, Saral Rahimi
2, Sahar Saeedi Moghadam
2, Maryam Khezrian
2, Ahmad Amin
12, Shahab Baheshmat
13, Mohammad Reza Beyranvand
14, Majid Haghjoo
15, Mitra Mahdavi-Mazdeh
16, Masoud Mehrpour
17, Ghobad Moradi
18, Soheil Peiman
19, Besharat Rahimi
20, Afarin Rahimi-Movaghar
21, Reza Rikhtegar
22, Shahin Roshani
2, Mohammad Saadatnia
23, Seyed Mehdi Samimi Ardestani
24, Shahab Khatibzadeh
25* 1 Tufts Medical Center, Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2 Non-Communicable Diseases Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Population Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
3 School of Agriculture and Food Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
4 Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
5 Tehran Heart Center, Cardiovascular Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
6 Department of Mental Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
7 Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
8 Institute for Global Health and Development, The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
9 Nursing Department, Iranshahr University of Medical Sciences, Iranshahr, Iran
10 Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
11 Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
12 Cardiogenetics Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
13 Department of Neuroscience and Addiction Studies, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine (SATiM), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
14 Department of Cardiology, Taleghani Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
15 Cardiac Electrophysiology Research Center, Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
16 Iranian Tissue Bank and Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
17 Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
18 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
19 Department of Internal Medicine, AdventHealth Orlando Hospital, Orlando, Florida, USA
20 Advanced Thoracic Research Centre, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran
21 Iranian National Center for Addiction Studies (INCAS), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
22 Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Alfried Krupp Hospital Ruttenscheid, Essen, Germany
23 Isfahan Neurosciences Research Centre, Alzahra Research Institute, Department of Neurology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
24 Departments of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
25 Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, Waltham, Massachusetts, USA
Abstract
Background: Assessment of quality and cost of medical care has become a core health policy concern. We conducted a nationwide survey to assess these measures in Iran as a developing country. To present the protocol for the Iran Quality of Care in Medicine Program (IQCAMP) study, which estimates the quality, cost, and utilization of health services for seven diseases in Iran.
Methods: We selected eight provinces for this nationally representative short longitudinal survey. Interviewers from each province were trained comprehensively. The standard definition of seven high-burden conditions (acute myocardial infarction [MI], heart failure [HF], diabetes mellitus [DM], stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary (COPD) disease, major depression, and end-stage renal disease [ESRD]) helped customize a protocol for disease identification. With a 3-month follow-up window, the participants answered pre-specified questions four times. The expert panels developed a questionnaire in four modules (demographics, health status, utilization, cost, and quality). The expert panel chose an inclusive set of quality indicators from the current literature for each condition. The design team specified the necessary elements in the survey to calculate the cost of care for each condition. The utilization assessment included various services, including hospital admissions, outpatient visits, and medication.
Results: Totally, 156 specialists and 78 trained nurses assisted with patient identification, recruitment, and interviewing. A total of 1666 patients participated in the study, and 1291 patients completed all four visits.
Conclusion: The IQCAMP study was the first healthcare utilization, cost, and quality survey in Iran with a longitudinal data collection to represent the pattern, quantity, and quality of medical care provided for high-burden conditions.