“There are two types of hospitals in Romania, 90 percent for acute illnesses, 10 percent for chronic diseases. Raising the efficiency of the system is based on a study by the World Bank, which became an emergency ordinance in 2004 and which is part of the conditions related to the loan from the World Bank. We are not talking about closing down hospitals, but rather about reducing the number of beds within a period of time, and converting certain units into long-term care centres, for treating chronic illnesses, and into social care institutions,” Cristian Vladescu, General Manager of the National School of Public Health, told Business Standard.
“We do not have a nursing home system, as there is abroad,” said Vladescu. According to estimates, there is high uncovered demand on this segment, and such reorientation could attract additional financing sources, from local or social security budgets.
“The public-private partnership could be the answer. A private operator cannot take over an entire hospital, but divided into slices, this could happen. We could find solutions for the diagnostic system, for example, for oncology, cardiology, etc. With dialysis this has already begun, and in this field, we are now at a level similar to that abroad,” said Tiberiu Roth, General Manager of Hiperdia.
Vladescu said that the only way to raise the efficiency of using resources is to attract private management in the administration of public contributions, and gave the Dutch model as an example. In the Dutch system, private insurers manage public funds and the money collected through social contributions is allocated based on the patients registered with each insurer. This system ensures competition among market operators and an efficient management of funds. “With this system, in 3-5 years, 80 percent of the market will become private, in other states where the public-private mix was applied, private insurance did not exceed 20 percent of the market,” indicated Vladescu.
