Public hospitals: Low contracts are the biggest problem

Ten post jest także dostępny w języku: polski

Despite the 2017 reform of the hospital network and the related change in the way hospitals are financed in Poland, the National Health Fund’s financing is still the main barrier to the development of such entities, according to the latest survey of hospital managers conducted by PMR. A growing problem in all types of public and non-public hospitals is also the difficulty in finding qualified personnel.

As every year, the vast majority of the management staff of public hospitals identify problems with the financing of services by the National Health Fund as the main barrier to development. Establishments here unanimously mention too low valuations. It is worth noting that despite the fact that too low a valuation remains the main barrier to the development of public hospitals in Poland, the percentage of indications for it in the current edition was the lowest since 2012. This indicates a certain improvement in this respect. It is also confirmed by the high dynamics of the value of outlays on hospital treatment from the National Health Fund in 2017-2018.

In the current edition of the study, it is worth noting the further increase in the indications of problems with finding qualified staff. A similar phenomenon of PMR was observed in a similar study conducted in the non-public hospital sector.

At the same time, the percentage of indications of inability to perform procedures on a commercial basis increased again (to 15%). The decline in 2017 was probably a result of the government’s announcements regarding plans to introduce such a possibility. Later, however, the government withdrew from these plans.