comparison of iranian ministry of health standards for emergency room with iso 9001 standards

introduction: providing high quality care in emergency room is highly critical. this research was planned to compare emergency room standards of the iranian ministry of health with those of iso9001 (version 2000) method: this descriptive study compared iso 9001 standards with items listed in booklet- a1 (iranian ministry of health standards for emergency departments). expert views were sought for the possibility of such comparison. validity and reliability of ministry's standards and iso 9001 standards were already ascertained in previous studies. descriptive methods were applied for data analysis. results: for 51-itemed iso 9001, 47.6% were comparable with ministry's standard items, whereas 52.4% did not match with any of the ministry's standards. eighty two percent of ministry's standards were found at least in one of the iso 9001 items. conclusion: ministry’s standards seem not to include many of the items of iso 9001, therefore lacking a comprehensive approach towards all aspects of emergency room activities such as process, management and organization. revision of ministry's standards according to the iso 9001 standards seems to be necessary.