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Causes of informal payments in health sector: a qualitative study of viewpoints of physicians, policy makers and patients
Mohammadreza Amiresmaili, Mahmood Nekoeimoghadam, Atefeh Esfandiari, Fatemeh Ramezani, Hedayat Salari,
Volume 6, Issue 3 (8-2013)
Abstract
In recent years, the financial relationship between the physician and the patient and some issues such as informal payments for health care have arisen as an unethical but common problem in many countries, including the Islamic Republic of Iran. Such issues are a threat to the professional reputation of physicians, and can have their own causes in different parts of the world. This study attempts to assess the causes of informal payments and the manners in which they are done in the hospitals of the Kerman Province in Iran in 2012. This study was carried out using qualitative research methods, and semi-structured interviews. Structured interviews were conducted on a purposeful sample of 45 participants including patients, providers and policy makers in the Kerman province in Iran in 2012. This study was authorized by the ethics committee of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, and the consent form was completed by all participants. In this study the participants were asked questions regarding reasons for informal payments, and data were analyzed using content analysis. There are several reasons for making informal payments, which include cultural, legal and quality factors. A number of reasons for asking informal payments by providers were discovered, including those related to tariffs, structural factors and ethical factors as well as to demonstrate the skill and competence of service providers. Most of the reasons discovered for informal payments in Iran are similar to other countries in the world. They showed that inadequate funding of the health systems and inadequate formal payments to providers are the most important supply-side factors leading to informal payments. Given that qualitative studies usually cover potential reasons only, further studies are needed to investigate the matter more extensively.
Informal payments in Iran: A cross- sectional study prior to implementation of the health system reform
Mojtaba Parsa, Bagher Larijani, Kiarash Aramesh, Saharnaz Nedjat, Akbar Fotouhi, Mir Saeid Yekaninejad, Nedjatollah Ebrahimian,
Volume 9, Issue 6 (3-2017)
Abstract
Informal payments in clinics raise ethical concerns in healthcare delivery. This cross-sectional questioner survey aims to evaluate the prevalence and related factors of informal payment in healthcare system in Iran.
The study was carried out in 2013, prior to the implementation of the government' Health System Reform among physicians with different specialties. The questionnaire were distributed among the participants during the congresses and continuing medical education programs.
In results; of the total specialist physicians, 276   returned the questionnaires. The response rate was 81.17%. and out of 276 returned questionnaires 257 fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of informal payments, among the physicians who were susceptible to receiving informal payments, was relatively high (63.8%). The physicians who practiced in the private sector, as well as physicians who practiced in Tehran and those who had a positive attitude towards the informal payments, received more informal payments. From the viewpoint of the respondents, the main cause of informal payments was unrealistic/unfair tariffs and the main consequence of informal payments was the rising costs of patient care.
This study showed that, unfortunately, more than half of the participants did not believe or did not decisively consider informal payments as unethical. This confirms the importance of physicians’ education about the unethical practice of informal payments. However, compare to private sectors, more supervision in public sector may be the main cause of less prevalence of informal payments in public hospitals.
In conclusion: Developing ethical guidelines to prevent informal payments as well as more realistic and fair tariffs would help to decrease the incidence of informal payments.
 

Juridical, Legal, and Ethical Aspects of "Under-the-Table Payments " from the Perspective of Experts and Shia Grand Ayatollahs
Mojtaba Parsa,
Volume 17, Issue 0 (12-2024)
Abstract
"Under-the-table payment" refers to money a physician demands and receives from a patient, in addition to the established and approved medical tariff, typically for medical services such as surgical operations. This study aims to examine the ethical, legal, and juridical aspects of this phenomenon, which has become common among many physicians. This qualitative study is based on semi-structured interviews with 17 experts from various fields, including Islamic jurisprudence, law, professional ethics, philosophy of ethics, medical ethics, health economics, and social psychology. The interviews were analyzed using the conventional content analysis method. Additionally, the opinions (fatwas) of 11 Shia Grand Ayatollahs on under-the-table payments were obtained by posing a specific question to them. The findings from the expert interviews revealed several concerns regarding under-the-table payments, including:
· Disregard for patients' best interests, particularly causing harm to poor patients;
· Undermining trust between doctors and patients;
· Violations of national laws and public policies;
· Promotion of lawlessness;
· Breaches of medical and ethical obligations by physicians;
· Coercion or undue pressure on patients to pay such fees.
Experts emphasized that medicine is a profession in which patients' interests should take precedence over those of doctors, and in this practice, this fundamental principle is violated. Furthermore, in the fatwas issued by the majority of Shia Grand Ayatollahs - particularly those with governmental perspectives - nearly all deemed this practice impermissible, with some explicitly declaring it forbidden (haram). Receiving under-the-table payments is ethically, legally, and juridically problematic, and in some cases, is considered impermissible, particularly for the physicians involved. However, it is generally not considered problematic for patients who are coerced into making such payments.

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