This booklet presents guidelines on using alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms to increase access to healthcare, particularly for poor and vulnerable populations. The ADR approach uses techniques such as negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and multi-actor dialogue to enable clients and providers to work together to resolve concerns about health service access, quality, and other issues. While it is important to have such mechanisms in place for the general public, it is especially beneficial for the poor, who are more likely to face barriers to service access, lack of information, and mistreatment or discrimination from healthcare providers. To help operationalize the ADR approach, the USAID-funded POLICY Project provided technical and financial assistance to establish five Centers for the Resolution of Conflicts in Health (CEPRECS) in Peru from 2001–2004. The centers are managed by local NGOs and employ multidisciplinary teams of individuals with legal and health service backgrounds. The centers’ Boards of Directors include leaders from various sectors as a way of fostering widespread community support. The CEPRECS experience demonstrated that the centers provided a much-needed venue to receive and address complaints to protect the rights of users in health facilities. During the period 2002–2004, the five centers addressed about 750 cases dealing with issues such as mistreatment, lack of information, difficulties using the social insurance system, lack of informed consent, and violations of privacy. The outcomes of the individual cases show that conflicts in health facilities can be resolved through the involvement of civil society and collaboration with healthcare policymakers and providers. Moreover, by collating information from individual cases to respond to issues from a systemic perspective, the five centers were successful in promoting policy decisions to improve local public health systems and services. While there is still much work to be done to ensure access to healthcare, guarantee high-quality health services, and promote respect of the right to healthcare without discrimination, the CEPRECS model contributes to these goals by resolving conflict at the individual level, strengthening community consensus, and fostering policy change at the systems level. To further promote the use of ADR in health settings, Task Order 1 of the USAID | Health Policy Initiative has prepared guidelines based on the experiences and lessons learned from using ADR and operating a CEPRECS. This document reviews the implementation process of the five local-level centers in Peru and outlines the CEPRECS operational model. It also presents guidelines for replicating the model, focusing on five key principles and associated strategies that were critical to the success of the Peruvian centers: 1.Use a problem-solving approach consistently at all levels of implementation. 2.Citizens, authorities, and health personnel must work together to improve the health system. 3.Users must know their rights in health facilities and have appropriate channels in order to fully exercise those rights. 4.Be aware of the specific needs of vulnerable population groups and tailor ADR services accordingly. 5.Consider sustainability from the beginning. The guidelines presented in this booklet can be adapted for implementation in a variety of contexts, including rural or urban areas, public or private sector facilities, clinics, hospitals, and community or other health facilities. Readers should consider their own local context and characteristics of the health sector and draw on existing national laws and regulations when replicating the CEPRECS model.