a performance assessment model using balanced scorecard and taxonomy analysis: a case study in medical services insurance organization, isfahan, iran

background: in today's world, survival of any organization depends on its competitiveness and suitable decisions against environmental changes.  one of the effective methods in organizations is to use performance evaluation systems to determine weak points to be improved and strengths to be reinforced. performance evaluation and management not only help organizations to increase competitiveness, but also play an important role in determination and implementation of strategies. this research tried to present a performance evaluation model for service organizations. methods: this was an applied descriptive case study on the medical services insurance organization in the province of isfahan, iran, during 2009-2010. a questionnaire whose validity and reliability were confirmed by the opinions of experts and a cronbach's alpha of 0.71, respectively, was used to collect data. first, related books and articles were reviewed to determine index characteristics. four university professors were then asked and the results were analyzed by topsis technique to identify key properties in selecting indices. a questionnaire was then used to determine key performance indices. afterwards, the indices were weighted using a different questionnaire. finally, the collected information was ranked by numerical taxonomy technique. results: the key performances indices were identified as cost management, income management, and customer satisfaction. the performance of organizations was evaluated and compared based on these indices. the results were presented in tables. conclusion: to improve the performance of branches of medical services insurance organization in different towns, analysis and optimization of medical expenses, increasing income, and customer satisfaction have particular importance. these factors would definitely be vital in success of the medical services insurance organization as a whole.