Designing a pragmatic model for strategic purchasing of health services in health insurance companies.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important factors for strategic purchasing of health services in the health sector by the Iran Health Insurance Company and to provide an applicable model for other similar organizations in developing countries.Design/methodology/approach The...

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Published in:International Journal of Health Governance Vol. 24; no. 1; pp. 42 - 56
Main Authors: Rezapour, Aziz, Hakimzadeh, Seyyed Mostafa, Panahi, Sirous, Teymourzadeh, Ehsan, Bahadori, Mohammadkarim, Bastani, Peivand, Tahernezhad, Ali
Format: research tables/charts Journal Article
Published: Emerald Publishing Limited 2019
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        20594631
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      dt: 2019
      vid: 24
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      pub: Emerald Publishing Limited
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        134831390
        134831390
        134831390
        10.1108/IJHG-07-2018-0030
        134831390
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        atl: Designing a pragmatic model for strategic purchasing of health services in health insurance companies.
      aug:
        au:
          Rezapour, Aziz
          Hakimzadeh, Seyyed Mostafa
          Panahi, Sirous
          Teymourzadeh, Ehsan
          Bahadori, Mohammadkarim
          Bastani, Peivand
          Tahernezhad, Ali
        affil: Health Management and Economics Research Center‚ Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
      sug:
        subj:
          Health Services Purchasing
          Insurance Carriers Iran
          Insurance, Health Iran
          Models, Theoretical
          Human
          Iran
          Qualitative Studies
          Semi-Structured Interview
          Delphi Technique
          Thematic Analysis
          Leadership
          Knowledge
          Developing Countries
          Consumer Participation
          Government Agencies
          Interinstitutional Relations
          Program Implementation
          Clinical Effectiveness
          Health Insurance Exchanges
          Purposive Sample
          Summated Rating Scaling
          Descriptive Statistics
          Decision Making
      ab: Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the most important factors for strategic purchasing of health services in the health sector by the Iran Health Insurance Company and to provide an applicable model for other similar organizations in developing countries.Design/methodology/approach The present qualitative study was conducted in 2017 to identify the factors affecting the implementation of strategic purchasing of health services in the health sector by the Iran Health Insurance Company and to provide an indigenous and practical model through two phases: semi-structured interview followed by a Delphi process.Findings According to the findings of this study, Ministry of Welfare, Labor and Social Security plays a central role in the strategic purchasing. In addition, this was also approved by the representatives of citizens in communities concerning professional associations, insurance agencies and representative of the Council of Ministers. Model development explored 9 themes and 54 sub-themes.Research limitations/implications Based on the model, most attention has been paid to consumer role and inter-sector leadership of the company with other relevant organizations and systems including other insurance organizations and the welfare ministry. More importantly, the health insurance company should be able to communicate with providers and to choose the best providers, receiving price information through competition in the most appropriate mechanism. Guided by this model, it can strategically buy the best and the most effective services for its insured population.Social implications It might help developing societies to promote their health systems based on targeting the health budgeting and financial constraints so that it is prioritized according to the strategic purchasing criteria and consequently, economic evaluation.Originality/value The linchpins of the present study are as follow: first, the pragmatic model presented in the paper could help developing health systems to overcome the impediment in the implementation progress of strategic purchasing. Second, the model satisfies the need of enough knowledge to apply strategic purchasing in the health system. Third, the indigents have long been given special protection and consideration in the model that has continued to capture the attention of every policy-maker, in particular, developing countries, the portion of which is significant. Fourth, based on this model, attention has been paid to consumer role and inter-sector leadership of organization with other relevant organizations and systems. Fifth, this model could be correspondent for every insurance company in countries with similar developing conditions.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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