Patients' rights: a hospital survey in South Egypt.

We examined the awareness of and practices regarding patients' rights in one of the general hospitals in South Egypt. This cross-sectional study incorporated a convenience sample of the hospitalized patients and their companions (N = 292), as well as the actively working medical care providers (MCPs) at the time of data collection, 72 physicians and 48 nurses. Pretested structured questionnaires inquired about the way in which patients' rights are perceived by and exercised through the lived experiences of the sample group.

Re-engineering pre-employment check-up systems: a model for improving health services.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop a model for improving health services provided by the pre-employment medical fitness check-up system affiliated to Egypt's Health Insurance Organization (HIO).

Design/methodology/approach: Operations research, notably system re-engineering, is used in six randomly selected centers and findings before and after re-engineering are compared. The re-engineering model follows a systems approach, focusing on three areas: structure, process and outcome.