PROPOSING A FRAMEWORK FOR ACCREDITATION OF DENTAL CLINICS IN IRAN

Abstract

Accreditation is one of the important areas in evaluating health services. Some healthcare facilities have been accrediting including hospitals, outpatient centers like clinics, and rehabilitation centers. Therefore, considering the gap in the health system regarding the lack of a complete and comprehensive model for accreditation of dental clinics in Iran, the present study seeks to provide a model for accreditation of dental clinics in Iran. In this study, three accreditation structures were combined to develop a framework for the accreditation of dental clinics. They included the national accreditation model of Iran hospitals, the proposed model of accreditation of Iran outpatient clinics, and proposed standards for dental clinics in previous studies. Using a focus group discussion (FGD) method, the proposed model for accreditation of dental clinics in Iran was extracted. During four sessions of the FGD, experts presented the four main standard categories including leadership and management, care and treatment, rights of service givers, and special standards for dental clinics as the accreditation framework of dental clinics in Iran. It is crucial for different parts of the accreditation system to be consistent and even paired across the country. Then, in this study by combining three models of inpatient and outpatient accreditation in Iran and outpatient accreditation models in the top countries, a consistent model for accreditation of dental clinics in Iran is developed. One of the features of this model is the compatibility of the model with other accreditation models in Iran, which tends to decrease challenges in implementing this model.