Tabriz Clinical Governance Research Project (TCGRP): Study Protocol

Ab s t r a c t The Tabriz Clinical Governance Research Project (TCGRP) was conducted in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan Province of Iran. The project was done based on the National Clinical Governance Movement of the Iranian health system since 2009. The TCGRP aimed to monitor the progress of clinical governance in Tabriz hospitals. The TCGRP had three components: 1- A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify draft indicators. 2- Draft indicators were evaluated by experts through Delphi technique and expert panels, 3- The indicators were assessed through data collection at three sampling levels of hospitals, patients and community. All Tabriz hospitals (n=21) with various ownerships were included in the study. Moreover, 3000 patients (inpatients and outpatients) as well as 1050 Tabriz households were investigated. The TCGRP protocol is designed to provide basic performance information for policymakers as well as the researchers in field of clinical governance. Results from TCGRP are assumed to identify the weaknesses and facilitate the development of effective interventions to improve the clinical governance practice.