Table 2. Characteristics of included studies.
| Paper characteristics* | Total papers extracted: 110 |
| Number of papers | 110 |
| Types of private sector actors covered | |
| Private healthcare facilities (hospitals, health centres, clinics, etc) | 92 |
| Private insurance companies or HMOs | 30 |
| Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (national and international)/civil society organisations (CSOs) | 24 |
| Pharmacies and other retailers | 21 |
| Laboratories | 7 |
| Governance tools discussed | |
| Regulation/legislation | 62 |
| Contracting/purchasing | 47 |
| Support/collaboration/guidance | 22 |
| Accreditation | 8 |
| Taxation | 1 |
| Public accountability mechanisms | 5 |
| Level of governance covered | |
| National | 88 |
| Subnational | 30 |
| WHO regions of LMICs covered | |
| African Region (AFR) | 63 |
| Region of the Americas (AMR) | 24 |
| South-East Asian Region (SEAR) | 43 |
| European Region (EUR) | 16 |
| Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) | 29 |
| Western Pacific Region (WPR) | 27 |
| Journal/publication type | |
| Health and health systems journals | 62 |
| Social policy and development journals | 11 |
| Reports | 27 |
| Other† | 9 |
| Data collection methods | |
| Qualitative study | 45 |
| Quantitative study | 3 |
| Mixed methods | 19 |
| Reviews (document/literature) | 38 |
| N/A‡ | 5 |
*
Many publications include more than one category of private sector actor, governance tool, WHO region, or data collection method.
†
Other publications include book chapters, policy briefs, and academic theses.
‡
These are papers which do not employ any data collection method and which are conceptual in nature.
HMOshealth maintenance organisationsLMICslow- and middle-income countries