Challenges and strategies for improving the rural family physician program in Iran

Background: Family physician is a corrective action for completing PHC and an important development in providing health services in Iran which by its implementation, it is emphasized on the need to reform, supplement and expand the program. In this study, we seek to identify the key challenges of the rural family physician to provide practical solutions to solve them. Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative study conducted with a review of documents and interviews. Documents were systematically selected documents and key informants have been selected with Non-probability methods. 26 In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using Maxqda software by deductive content method. Results: The results show that for the full implementation of the rural family physician there are still essential challenges in the area of governance such as the lack of mandatory rules for specialized levels for Observe the ranking; in the area of financing such as lack of impact of physician activity on wages; in the area of education such as the inconsistency of the content of medical education with the family physician, in the area of service providers such as reluctance of family physicians to care plans; in the area of service recipients such as self-referral without a doctor's opinion: and in the area of evaluation such as insufficient supervision of insurer organizations. Conclusion: Given the national and international emphasis on PHC continuity and providing family physician-centered services, comprehensive and systematic planning of remedial actions should be undertaken to address existing challenges.