Public-Private Partnership Experiences and Achievements in Providing Primary Health Care to the Elderly: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Context: Given the expansion of public-private partnership (PPP) policy in providing primary health care to the elderly in different countries, this study aimed to investigate the experiences and achievements of PPP in this field following a scoping review approach.
 Methods: This scoping review study was conducted in 2019 following the Arkesy and O’Malley framework. We systematically searched Google Scholar from January 2000 to October 2019. Also, to increase the chance of finding potentially relevant studies references of identified studies, some journals, government reports and documents, websites, and other sources of information were searched.
 Results: In total, 10 articles and reports were included, mostly from high-income countries. Twenty-five positive outcomes (12 for the elderly, four for their families, seven for the public sector, and two for the private sector) and three negative outcomes (all for the private sector) were extracted. The most important achievements included improving quality and access to services as well as reducing service costs.
 Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the PPP policy has had many positive results. Therefore, as a major and effective policy, it can be considered by policymakers and officials. In this regard, greater support for the private sector and a rigorous and scientific evaluation of this policy’s achievements are recommended.