Health Transformation Plan Achievements and Outcomes in Iran (2014-2020): A Scoping Review

Med J Islam Repub Iran. 2021 Nov 13:35:151. doi: 10.47176/mjiri.35.151. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Background: The Health Transformation Plan (HTP), the latest reform in Iran's health system to achieve the 3 main goals of financial protection, equity, and quality of health care, was started on May 5, 2014. This study aimed to review all available literature regarding the achievements and outcomes of this reform after 6 years of its implementation. Methods: The 5 English databases were examined by using appropriate keywords to find documents published on the HTP between June 5, 2014, and the end of April 2020. Out of 532 recovered articles, 137 were included in the study. The study's organization was based on the Arkesy and O'Malley framework and data analysis was done using the content analysis method. Results: The findings of the study were divided into 11 sections. Studies on the plan's impact on financial protection (22.6%), performance indicators (14.5%), and natural delivery promotion (14.5%) were the most frequent, respectively. Regarding the impact of the HTP on patient satisfaction ,performance indicators, and efficiency, mostly positive results have been obtained. However, in terms of the impact of the HTP on financial protection and informal payments, the outcomes have been different, contradictory, and sometimes negative. Conclusion: Although the HTP has successfully achieved a number of its goals, in some of the goals, the results are not significant. Given the changing health conditions and funding constraints, it is better to consider measures to fundamentally review the HTP and executive packages.

Keywords: Health Reform; Health System; Heath Transformation Plan; Iran.