The challenges of supervision on providing health services from the viewpoint of the insurer: A qualitative study

Introduction: The current study has been done with the purpose of investigating the challenges on supervising health services in Iran from the view point of the insurers. Methods: This is a qualitative study and the participants are 20 senior managers of 2 social health insurance organizations (SHIO) of Iran. Purposive sampling has been done and the data was collected through interview which has been analyzed by framework analysis and the MAXQDA 2007 software. Results: The most important themes extracted from the issue of supervision are: objectives of the supervision, the supervisors, and supervisees, the subject of supervision, types of supervision, tools and researchable necessities of supervision. Conclusion: The health system requires attention to the supervision aspect and for supervision to take place; the opportunities and threats of the technological, economical and the value dimensions must be approached strategically.