Public-private partnership in Iranian hospitals: Challenges and opportunities

Nowadays, various strategies are applied by governments to control costs and finance hospitals and the health sector. Public‑private partnership (PPP) option is one of these strategies. Considering the growing importance of hospitals in different communities and their problems, this study aimed to identify PPP challenges, opportunities and solutions in hospitals. This study aimed to identify the challenges and opportunities of PPP in the country’s hospitals and then offered an appropriate solution to overcome these challenges.

This is a qualitative study and content analysis approach is undertaken. The participants were selected through purposive sampling and data were collected using a semi‑structured interview with experts in the public and private health sector until the saturation point achieved. Data analysis was performed through the thematic analysis of expert’s statements using MAXQDA. 10 software in this sector.

According to the study results, 3 main themes (challenges, opportunities, and solutions), 10 sub‑themes, and 32 codes were identified in relation to the public and private partnership. 4 sub‑themes on challenges of PPP, 3 sub‑themes on partnership opportunities and 3 sub‑themes on challenges solutions were identified.

The results of this study revealed that given the discussed challenges the most important challenge seems to be not evaluated outsourcings, incorrect usage of participatory models, and inadequate and inappropriate postoutsourcing supervision, however, it appears evaluated outsourcing backed with adequate supervision could solve many current hospitals’ problems.