Policy Conflict Management in the Health System Policy-making Process Elements, Effects and Solutions

The purpose of this study is to present the elements affecting the formation, potential effects and strategies of policy conflict management. To answer the main research question, which is the elements affecting the management of policy conflict in the policy-making process of the Iranian health system? A qualitative approach and Delphi methods and content analysis were used. To implement the Delphi method, the opinions of 13 experts were received in the form of three rounds of questionnaires. The network of general policy conflict management themes was identified with 111 basic themes, 14 organizing themes and 3 comprehensive themes. The research findings were extracted from the Elements of conflict formation including the type of actors, ideological characteristics of the role-makers, performance contexts, environmental characteristics and design of internal elements of the policy. Findings from the effects of conflict including social, process, governance and reflection effects were also identified. Evidence-based decision making, participatory development, deepening transparency, legal regulation and conflict of interest management were also identified as policy conflict management solutions.