BackgroundProviding services to patients according to their expectations and needs is necessary for the success of an organization in order to remain in the competitive market. Recognizing these needs and expectations is an important step in offering high quality services. This study was designed to determine the service quality gap of the main hospital of Hormozgan province.MethodsThis cross sectional study was conducted in 2013 in Bandar Abbas ShahidMohammadi Hospital in the south of Iran. All 96 participants of this study were provided by SERVQUAL questionnaire. Data was analyzed by Wilcoxon and Kruskal-Wallis tests.ResultsService quality gaps were seen in all five service quality dimensions and the overall quality of service. The mean of quality perception score and quality expectation score was 3.44 ± 0.693 and 4.736 ± 0.34, respectively. The highest perception was in assurance dimension and the highest expectation was in Responsiveness and assurance dimensions. Also, the lowest perception was in responsiveness dimension and the lowest expectation was about empathy. In this study, 56.1% of participants defined the quality of services as average.ConclusionAccording to the results, this hospital was not able to meet patients’ expectations completely. Therefore, action must be taken to decrease the gap between the perception and expectation of the patients.

All dimensions of service quality were negative, which implies that the quality of health services in Iran has not been satisfying to patients and needs to be improved.

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Background Vaccination against Covid 19 disease was based on rational practice theory. One of the most effective methods to control the COVID-19 pandemic is extensive vaccination coverage in the shortest time. The relevant beliefs and predictors of COVID-19 vaccine and the barriers to and facilitators of receiving COVID-19 vaccine should be identified. Individuals’ intention to receive COVID-19 and the effective factors are of an utmost importance. This study aimed to predict intention to receive COVID-19 vaccine in the South of Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed over a period of 2 months (May 2021 to July 2021) in 4 southern provinces in Iran. The study population of this study included people over 18 years of age who did not receive the COVID-19 vaccine. The online questionnaire was used to collect data. We recruited participants through a self-selection sampling method and posted the online survey link. The questionnaire had two parts: demographic information and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) questions. All statistical calculations and hypotheses tests were performed using SPSS21 and Amos21 software and the significance level was considered 0.05. Results A total number of 2556 people participated in this study with a mean age of 37.76 (10.7) of years (Age Range = 18–75). The findings showed that attitudes and subjective norms and the use of social media predict the intention to receive COVID-19 vaccine. SEM showed that attitude (β = 0.596, P < 0.001), subjective norms (β = 0.265, P < 0.001) were significant predictors of vaccination intention. In this study, 78% of people were willing to receive the vaccine when they were officially allowed to. Conclusion According to the results of the study, it is suggested to strengthen positive attitudes and subjective norms about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination as well as using social media to inform the community in order increase the intention to vaccinate COVID-19 and increase vaccine coverage.

BackgroundOne of the effective indicators for determining the efficiency and optimal use of hospital resources is the length of stay (LOS). This study aimed to determine the patients’ length of stay and the factors affecting the LOS in the Children’s hospital.MethodA cross-sectional study was performed on Children Hospital medical record database including 350 records (April 2015 to Dec 2015). Records were selected by stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. Then the predetermined demographic and hospital variables were extracted through the study of patients’ medical records. All statistical analysis were performed using SPSS software.ResultsThe overall median of the LOS in the studied hospital was 3 days (IQR =3). The results showed that in this hospital the LOS has a significant relationship with the variables of time of admission, the place of residence, type of admission, and the degree of attending physician. Also, with the increasing number of visits, ultrasonography, counseling and laboratory test, LOS was increased.ConclusionImproving processes related to diagnostic procedures, providing adequate staffing for specialized services in all hours of the day, preventing unnecessary and non-emergency admissions in the evening and night, will be effective in optimizing patient LOS.