Developing a Conceptual Model of the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS) Via Quality Improvement Models in Iran

Abstract

Achieving the goals of organizations requires an appropriate model for performance evaluation. Applying globally accepted methods for administration of hospital incident command system (HICS) can build a new tool for improving the quality of evaluation of real disasters and incidences. The present study seeks to develop a model through the implementation of a quality management system. This applied study was conducted in two steps in 2016. First, data collection were collected from library-printed and electronic references related to the purpose of the research. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 28 articles having conducted on HICS and 50 articles on the quality management system were selected. In the next step, interviews were conducted with 23 experts and the themes were obtained through qualitative study and content analysis. Then the data were extracted. According to qualitative interviews, two themes of the proposed quality improvement models in health centers and the appropriate model of the HICS were extracted. Then, the qualitative elements of the models were determined for overlapping the HICS based on the similarities and differences in the study models. Most important dimensions examined was organization management system, management and leadership, customer focus, personal of development plan, information & communication management, non-conformity, improvement, audit. Since the HICS faced some limitations, such as insufficient attention to quality improvement, incompatibility of this system with the management structure in hospitals, weakness in system communication, and lack of a native model in Iran, this article attempts to develop a conceptual model that has the most common features among the models for filling the gaps in evaluating the HICS.