Abstract
Corruption in health systems not only threatens the organizational performance, with considerable negative
effects on patient and social outcomes, but also undermines public trust. Awareness of the areas of corruption
and its types can be a guide for timely identification and appropriate actions. Following a scoping review design,
this study aimed to identify areas of corruption and its types in 2020. Electronic databases (n=6) were searched
to identify relevant studies from the time of their inception to September 3, 2020. The reference list of identified
articles was also hand-searched. Qualitative data analysis was administered using MAXQDA-10. Ten areas of
corruption in healthcare were identified: governance in health care, monitoring and auditing, construction and
renovation of providers, procurement, storage, distribution of equipment, drugs, and medical supplies, service
delivery, research and development, marketing, quality assessment and accreditation, service recipients, and
human resources, comprising 54 types of corruption. Evidence support corruption in various institutionaloperational areas of the health system, indicating the need to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based
corruption plan.