Offering Free Treatment Services to More than 23,000 Individuals Injured in Traffic Accident

The director of Economy, Treatment, Standard and Technology Administration of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Dr. Ebrahimipour said: according to Paragraph B of Article 37 of the 5^th Rule of Development, in 2015, almost 38,500 and since March 2016, more than 23,000 individuals injured in traffic accidents in the area under supervision of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences have received treatment services free of charge.

According to WebDa, in a report presented about the load of ailments imposed to Health and Treatment System of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences as a result of road accidents within last year, Dr. Ebrahimipour said: traffic accidents are one aspect of the governance spheres in Health and Treatment Administration which have received special attention from the country’s policy makers in the scope of health as to the great number of traffic and road accidents in the country.

He expressed that: traffic accidents impose a huge burden of the lost years of life to the people in Iran; in the same way a huge financial burden is also imposed to the health system. The country’s health and treatment system has implemented various policies to decrease the load of traffic accident-related ailments.

The director of Economy, Treatment, Standard and Technology Administration of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences stated: in the 4^th and 5^th Developmental Plan, all expenses for traffic accident-related patients and injuries through the country would be free of charge. These expenses are determined to be paid through the third person insurance and commercial insurance companies.

Dr. Ebrahimipour asserted: the treatment expense of those injured in traffic accidents will be announced periodically by the specified system of the Ministry of Health, Hygiene and Medical Education. Based on the practices in various hospitals (recorded in the system allotted to this issue), after passing the investigational stages, this ministry pays the determined expenses to the hospitals.

Speaking of the required conditions to offer traffic-related treatment services in university hospitals, he pointed out: in the condition that some specific rules and regulations are met; for example: having the documents recorded on the case of a traffic accident like 911 call (115 medical emergencies number in Iran), or showing a police sketch (to confirm it as a traffic accident), and utilizing nationally produced medical equipment, the related treatment services offered to the injured people would be free of charge.

The director of Economy, Treatment, Standard and Technology Administration of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences added: almost 10% of hospital services of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences is related to traffic accidents.

Referring to the statistics of traffic accident patients who have received free services through last year, Dr. Ebrahimipour said: in the area under supervision of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, about 35,000 patient profiles are created for the individuals injured in traffic accidents who have received medical services in 2014. With a 10% increase, this number has mounted to 38,500 profiles in 2015.

He emphasized: in 2016, during 7 months from March through September, 23,000 traffic accident injured individuals have referred to university affiliated teaching hospitals. Based on the predictions and the increase in pilgrimage trips to the Holy city of Mashhad during holidays and vacations, this number is predicted to reach to 40,000 injured individuals.

The director of Economy, Treatment, Standard and Technology Administration of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences said: this increasing trend inevitably imposes a heavy economic burden to the system such that in 2014, the total expense of treating these patients in the areas under supervision of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences had been more than 17 million dollars.

As Dr. Ebrahimipour put it, 8% of the total turnover of exclusive incomes in hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences are related to traffic accidents. Regarding the high portion of injured individuals in traffic accidents as to the expenses and their number, exclusive treatment centers must be equipped for this purpose.

He emphasized: considering hospital admissions of the injured individuals requiring subspecialist services from all over the province and the neighboring provinces of Mashhad, it is necessary to establish some centers with subspecialist services.

Dr. Ebrahimipour added: at the moment, Shahid Kamyab, Shahid Hashemi Nejad, Imam Reza and Taleghani hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences and Farabi Hospital affiliated to Social Security offer the highest amount of treatment services to traffic accident injured individuals. However, among 38,500 traffic accident patients of 2015, only 2,300 patients were treated in non-teaching hospitals.

The director of Economy, Treatment, Standard and Technology Administration of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences averred: according to the statistics released, only 5% of the patients injured in traffic accidents are treated in non-teaching hospitals, and 95% of the burden to treat these patients is undertaken by university affiliated teaching hospitals.

Dr. Ebrahimipour stressed that: even after being dismissed, the individuals who had initially referred to hospitals as traffic accident patients will receive a major portion of their services for free after their first dismissal.

In the end he pointed out: the procedure of paying the expense of treatment services for those injured in traffic accidents is managed by the Economy and Treatment Administration of the university. This unit also investigates all profiles of traffic accident patients treated in non-governmental/non-teaching hospitals. In addition, the Economy and Treatment Administration of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences is in charge of initial investigations on the profiles in order to check if the alleged services are actual.