Table 1 . Characteristics of research participants .
| Organization | Position | Numbers |
| MoHME | - Three former ministers of health | 11 |
|
- Senior officers in the medical tariff unit - Senior policy officials in the health policy-making council - Senior officials in the budget office - Former and current senior national officials | ||
| Parliament | - Four members of parliament | 5 |
| - Former senior policy officials in the health commission of parliament | ||
| Insurance organizations | - Board members | 7 |
| - Senior national officials | ||
| Hospitals | - Heads of hospitals | 7 |
|
- Head of hospitals’ financial offices - Managers of hospitals - Members of selected hospitals’ boards of trustees - Healthcare providers |
||
| Universities of Medical Sciences | - Managers at Medical Universities | 6 |
|
- Faculty members - Deputy treatment |
||
| Vice-Presidency for Strategic Planning and Supervision (formerly budgeting and planning organization) | - Former and current heads of the organization | 5 |
| - Senior policy officials | ||
| Iranian Medical Council | - Senior policy officials | 3 |
| Others | - PhD students in health policy, health economic and health management | 5 |
|
- Forums - Health policy and public policy researchers |
||
| Total | 47 |
MoHME: Ministry of Health and Medical Education