Honarvar Behnam, Bagheri Lankarani Kamran, Joulaei Hassan, Shahabi Saeed, Ahmadi Marzaleh Milad, Kaheni Yasamin, Rad Niloofar Rambod, Jeliani Zahra Zarei, Shaygani Fatemeh, Kalyani Majid Najafi, Hajiaghaei Maedeh, Jeliani Fatemeh Zarei
Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, Health Human Resources Research Center, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
Int J Prev Med. 2025 Apr 24;16:23. doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.ijpvm_34_24. eCollection 2025.
Urban Family Physician Program (UFPP) passed the first ten years of its age in Iran. In this study, we aimed to determine the strengths and challenges of this program from the viewpoints of family physician (FP) teams to address comprehensive evidences and solutions for its improvement.
In this qualitative study, using purposeful sampling, 58 members of FP teams from ten cities of Fars province were interviewed. In-depth semistructured phone interviews were performed. The trustworthiness of data was checked using Guba and Lincoln criteria.
Interviewees' mean years of working in UFPP was 6.9 ± 3.5 years. Themes of challenges included: Inefficient governance, Challenging information system, Fragile financing system, Inefficient service provision, Inefficient Health Workforce, and Inadequate medical products and technologies. Themes of strengths included: Improving governance, Comprehensive information system, Improved quality of service delivery, Improved health workforce conditions, Curbing the costs of health systems, and Capability of application of new technologies. The bulk of views were toward challenges compared with the strengths.
After the first decade of running UFPP and regardless of some contradictory opinions among family physician teams, the challenges of this program outweigh its strengths. These evidences address the need for a fundamental reform in this program.
城市家庭医生项目（UFPP）在伊朗走过了第一个十年。在本研究中，我们旨在从家庭医生（FP）团队的角度确定该项目的优势和挑战，以提供全面的证据和改进方案。
在这项定性研究中，采用目的抽样法，对来自法尔斯省十个城市的58名FP团队成员进行了访谈。进行了深入的半结构化电话访谈。使用古巴和林肯标准检查数据的可信度。
受访者在UFPP工作的平均年限为6.9±3.5年。挑战主题包括：治理效率低下、信息系统具有挑战性、融资系统脆弱、服务提供效率低下、卫生人力效率低下以及医疗产品和技术不足。优势主题包括：治理改善、综合信息系统、服务提供质量提高、卫生人力状况改善、控制卫生系统成本以及应用新技术的能力。与优势相比，大部分观点倾向于挑战。
在UFPP运行的第一个十年之后，尽管家庭医生团队之间存在一些矛盾的意见，但该项目的挑战超过了其优势。这些证据表明该项目需要进行根本性改革。
