The promotion of cooperation in healthcare consortia in Paraná, Brazil

Healthcare consortia (CIS) are public institutions that have become widely spread. This stems from the decentralization promoted in the national health care system in the 1990s, pushing smaller municipalities to face a common challenge - the provision of specialized health services. About 41% of all municipalities in Brazil take part in a CIS, of which 76% have up to twenty thousand inhabitants. Through the promotion of cooperation among members, CIS carry out part of its public policies in the health area. The aim of this research is to verify, through a survey with CIS' managers, how they deal with conflicts and how cooperation is promoted by CIS in Paraná State. Results indicate that there is financial attractiveness for participation in CIS; members value consensus over majority decisions; and retaliation to defection is rare and less intense.