Challenges of the Rural Health Insurance in Family Physician Program in Khorasan Razavi Province: A Qualitative Study

  Rural insurance has been designed and implemented in our country to develop social justice. In the health system, identifying its challenges to improve and implement reforms is essential. The present study aimed to assess the quality of rural insurance challenges in Khorasan Razavi Province. This study was conducted with a qualitative approach and a content analysis method in 2015 in Mashhad. Eighteen managers, policy makers, family physicians, and insurers who were selected by targeted sampling until data saturation were reached. After conducting the interviews, data were analyzed through conventional content analysis approach using the MAXQDA software version 10. Data analysis consists of two main themes including: Management challenges of the rural insurance system (Inefficient financial management of credits, non-comprehensive rules, inadequate implementation of guidelines, and deficiencies in the health information management system), and cultural challenges (lack of referral system observance and inappropriate cultural context). Each category contained several subcategories. Inefficient financial management of credits, lack of comprehensive guidelines, lack of information management and inappropriate cultural context of providers are essential challenges of rural insurance challenges in Mashhad. Since the rural insurance system plays a key role in the success of family physician policy and the development of social justice, it is necessary to use the results of this study to solve the problems and challenges of rural insurance