From: Iran’s health insurance ecosystem: challenges and strategies
Main theme | Subtheme | Challenges | Strategies |
---|---|---|---|
Governance-structure | Mission and existential philosophy | • Misunderstanding of some managers and policymakers about the function and principles of insurance | • Creating a holistic and health-oriented attitude and coverage of preventive level services in the insurance system •Prioritizing health as one of the basic priorities of governments • The need to change the paradigm, mission and paradigm shift in the insurance system |
Structure | • Lack of stability in the structure and stewardship of the health insurance system • The multiplicity of insurance funds • Traditional and non-flexible structures | • Reviewing the organizational structure of health insurance and creating a stable and independent structure from the ministerial structure • Consolidation of insurance funds and unification of insurance policies • Agility of the structure of the insurance system by decentralizing the duties of the governing bodies | |
Governance-legislation | Regulatory mechanisms such as rules and regulations | • Failure to fully implement insurance guidelines and laws by insurance organizations • Lack of transparency of the rules of insurance organizations • Lack of commitment of governance and administration to implement laws | • Establishing the requirement for the full implementation of the law of general insurance of medical services of the country by all insurance organizations |
Monitoring and evaluation | • Weak monitoring of the performance of service providers by governing bodies | • Using the insurance system as a cost control tool | |
Punitive and incentive mechanisms | • Moral hazard and induced demand | • Applying a cap on the receipt of high-use medical services in order to control and correct the consumption pattern | |
Interdepartmental leadership and coordination | Determining positions | • Conflict of interests due to the multiple roles of the actors • Collusion and lobbying | • Separation of political games from the country’s insurance system • Transparency in the duties of actors with multiple roles |
Intersectional communication and cooperation | • Lack of coordination, cooperation and constructive interaction between the ecosystem actors of organizations in order to establish effective communication | • Improving relations and cooperation and creating alignment in interests • Strengthening the Insurance Coordinating Council in order to expand cooperation and alignment | |
Human resources | • Non-compliance with professional ethics by some service providers • Appointment of specialist and specialist doctors in management positions | • Empowering presenters regarding the principles of professional ethics • Empowering doctors regarding management principles and techniques | |
Policy making | Rational decision making | • The sectional and personal decision-making • The narrow vision of the Ministry of Health in the stewardship of the health system as an obstacle to macro and intersectoral decisions • Failure to use scientific and research results and evidence in executive and policy-making actions | • Avoiding hasty decision-making and using decision-making and policy-making based on collective wisdom and scientific evidence • Establishing a monitoring and data mining system in the insurance system • Conducting scientific and comparative studies in the field of insurance to produce evidence |
Information Resources | •The existence of multiple and separate information systems • The resistance of service providers against electronicization of the insurance system and • Weakness in electronics infrastructure • Lack of transparency in the executive processes of electronicization and systems • Application of hospital deductions due to users’ unfamiliarity with the relevant systems | • Implementation of the electronic prescribing plan completely •Unification and integration of information systems • Improvement of information technology infrastructure • Creating an online database and collecting information from insurance organizations • Defining rules in the systems to prevent errors and violations and create transparency • Forming an electronic health record |