A Model for Effective Implementation of Health Policy in Iran

Background: Policies will be communicated to administrators after being drafted and approved. Sometimes, they undergo changes at the implementation stage that remove them from their goals. The aim of this study was to provide a model to improve the quality of policy implementation in the health system of Iran. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted in 2018. In order to collect the required information, a library method was used by not taking tool and in the second field stage, exploratory interviewing tool was applied. The study population consisted of the senior managers in the Ministry of Health, heads of the medical universities, and government hospitals. In this research, targeted and snowball sampling methods were used to select the interviewees. A total of 33 interviews were conducted. For analysis of the data, the database analysis was used and for modeling a system attitude was applied. Also, for the purpose of model testing, narrative interviews were used. Results: After recording the collected data and removing the repetitive components of the exploratory interviews and research background, 115 statements were identified. After the open encryption, 115 concepts were introduced. Finally, by axial and selective encodings, 9 components were determined: general culture, structure, information, policy quality, implementation style, rules and regulations, resource allocation, empowerment, and environment. Each of these components had dimensions and characteristics, which made a total of 46 indicators associated with capacity building of the health system policies. Conclusion:  Improved quality of the policies' implementation in various layers of the health system leads to a mutual trust between the health system of Iran and various levels of the target community, increases motivation, strengthens the spirit of cooperation, improves sharing efforts and teamwork among the executives, and provides an optimal context for emergence of creativity and innovation in implementation of policies, promotes health indicators in the community, and gains credibility for the health system of Iran.