Financing and planning of public and private not-for-profit hospitals in the European Union

While much has been written about health care financing in Europe in recent years, discussion has almost entirely focused on revenue. In contrast, there has been remarkably little written on financing of capital investment in European health care systems. Yet major changes are underway in several countries, in particular involving new forms of public-private partnerships (PPP). At the same time, there is growing recognition of the way in which the inherited structure of the health care delivery system constrains the system's ability to adapt to changing circumstances. This paper reports the results of a survey undertaken among key informants in the member states of the European Union to begin to ascertain existing practices and future plans in relation to hospital planning and financing amongst public and private not-for-profit hospitals. The locus of hospital planning decisions reflect the constitutional framework of the country involved, and thus the emphasis on national or local plans. There has been an expansion of private sector involvement, with four basic models identified: private loans direct to the hospital; private loans to a regional health body; a PPP where the private sector's role is to build, design and operate the non-clinical functions of the hospital; and, finally, a PPP, where the private sector's involvement also includes management of the clinical functions of the hospital. It is too early to say whether these approaches will be more successful than the models they are replacing.