Introduction: The diversity of primary health care models worldwide has complicated the decision-making process for policymakers. The contextual factors specific to the general and particular environments of each country's health system have further added to this complexity. Identifying the key components of primary health care models can provide a simple and comprehensive tool for policymakers to design patient-centered service delivery methods.
Methods: This study employed a critical review approach, utilizing selected databases including PubMed, IranMedex, SID, as well as search engines like Google Scholar and Google. Searches were conducted using three groups of keywords related to health, models, and systems in both English and Persian, covering publications from 2002 onwards. The results were recorded in a researcher-made form, and key dimensions were identified through content analysis of the findings.
Findings: After systematically excluding repetitive and irrelevant studies, a total of 21 articles were included in the final analysis. The results identified 12 subthemes into three key components: structural factors (target population size, level of consentration, integration methods, and the utilization of health technologies), financial factors (funding and payment systems), and functional factors (service providers, delivery locations, service packages, service delivery methods, registration processes, and volunteer engagement levels).
Conclusion: Providing clear responses by policymakers to the identified components elucidates a significant portion of the architecture of health programs. Attention to the results of this study can offer a unified perspective on the model of primary health service delivery and thus serve as a foundational document for developing executive guidelines.