European hospital reforms in times of crisis: Aligning cost containment needs with plans for structural redesign?

Hospitals have become a focal point for health care reform strategies in many European countries during the current financial crisis. It has been called for both, short-term reforms to reduce costs and long-term changes to improve the performance in the long run. On the basis of a literature and document analysis this study analyses how EU member states align short-term and long-term pressures for hospital reforms in times of the financial crisis and assesses the EU's influence on the national reform agenda. The results reveal that there has been an emphasis on cost containment measures rather than embarking on structural redesign of the hospital sector and its position within the broader health care system. The EU influences hospital reform efforts through its enhanced economic framework governance which determines key aspects of the financial context for hospitals in some countries. In addition, the EU health policy agenda which increasingly addresses health system questions stimulates the process of structural hospital reforms by knowledge generation, policy advice and financial incentives. We conclude that successful reforms in such a period would arguably need to address both the organisational and financing sides to hospital care. Moreover, critical to structural reform is a widely held acknowledgement of shortfalls in the current system and belief that new models of hospital care can deliver solutions to overcome these deficits. Advancing the structural redesign of the hospital sector while pressured to contain cost in the short-term is not an easy task and only slowly emerging in Europe.     

论公立医院筹资模式的构建

在当前医疗环境下,公立医院资金短缺,严重制约医院的发展。如何分散资金压力,筹集充足资金,降低资金成本已成为医院财务管理的重点。本文分析公立医院筹资管理中存在的问题,介绍并探讨公立医院可行的筹资模式。医院应立足于单位实际情况,进行科学的筹资决策,选择最优的筹资方案。     

Reconsidering the role of private health funds in Australia: a dynamic model

In recent years the private sector has played a more important role in the funding and provision of Australian hospital care as a consequence of federal government policies aimed at increasing participation in private health insurance (health funds). These policies include tax incentives, a 30% rebate on premiums and lifetime community rating (premiums set by age). While these policies have improved the short-term profitability of the private sector, its long-term success is not certain. This is because negotiations between health funds and private hospitals are often myopic, the nature of the insurance product may be inefficient, and there is a general lack of academic research on the private sector. This paper highlights the importance of the relationship between health funds and private hospitals in ensuring the long-term viability of the industry. It uses a simple overlapping generations model to demonstrate that it is not only the price that health funds pay that impacts on the capital value of hospitals, but also it is important how they structure their policies and attract individuals. The model demonstrates the potential benefits of implementing health insurance based on intertemporal transfers of funds rather than the current cross-subsidization. Such a policy would see health funds become an important store of capital. Also highlighted are the difficulties of discussing fundamental changes to the health care system. While recent health care reforms have been described as driven by ideology rather than evidence, in the Australian context there is little evidence on which to base policy. Researchers need to be more proactive in their consideration and evaluation of alternative health care policies. Through quality research on the private sector, academics can better guide policy makers at the national and institutional level.     

Financing graduate medical education in primary care: options for change

The current mechanisms of graduate medical education (GME) financing favor inpatient and procedural care, making the support of primary care programs difficult, as these residencies are oriented toward outpatient evaluation and management. Criteria for evaluating proposals that aim to improve the financial support of primary care programs include the financial, administrative, and educational implications of the options as well as the views of interested stakeholders. Other sources of funding for primary care GME are changes in existing Medicare payments; increased categorical GME funding, ambulatory payment, and grants; commitments from future employers; and redistribution of current funds. Alternatives for spending these funds to aid primary care programs include dividing the sources in three ways: on a per-resident basis, by competitive grants, or by incentives for primary care education. An analysis of the alternatives for changing GME financing shows that several solutions will be needed simultaneously.     

Bank accounts for public primary health care facilities: Reflections on implementation from three districts in Tanzania

Health care financing reforms are gaining popularity in a number of African countries to increase financial resources and promote financial autonomy, particularly at peripheral health care facilities. The paper explores the establishment of facility bank accounts at public primary facilities in Tanzania, with the intention of informing other countries embarking on such reform of the lessons learned from its implementation process. A case study approach was used, in which three district councils were purposively sampled. A total of 34 focus group discussions and 14 in‐depth interviews were conducted. Thematic content analysis was used during analysis. The study revealed that the main use of bank account revenue was for the purchase of drugs, medical supplies, and minor facility needs. To ensure accountability for funds, health care facilities had to submit monthly reports of expenditures incurred. District managers also undertook quality control of facility infrastructure, which had been renovated using facility resources and purchases of facility needs. Facility autonomy in the use of revenue retained in their accounts would improve the availability of drugs and service delivery. The experienced process of opening facility bank accounts, managing, and using the funds highlights the need to strengthen the capacity of staff and health‐governing committees.     

Determinants of capital structure

This study analyzes the determinants of hospital capital structure in a new market setting that are created by the financial pressures of prospective payment and the intense price competition among hospitals. Using California data, the study found hospital system affiliation, bed size, growth rate in revenues, operating risk, and asset structure affected both short- and long-term debt borrowings. In addition, percentage of uncompensated care, profitability, and payer mix influenced short-term borrowings while market conditions and ownership affected long-term borrowings. Most significant of all is the finding that smaller hospitals tend to borrow more, possibly because they cannot generate funds internally.     

Evidences on weaknesses and strengths from health financing after decentralization: lessons from Latin American countries

OBJECTIVE: The main objective was to identify trends and evidence on health financing after health care decentralization. STUDY DESIGN: Evaluative research with a before-after design integrating qualitative and quantitative analysis. Taking into account feasibility, political and technical criteria, three Latin American countries were selected as study populations: Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru. DATA SOURCES: The methodology had two main phases. In the first phase, the study referred to secondary sources of data and documents to obtain information about the following variables: type of decentralization implemented, source of finance, funds of financing, providers, final use of resources and mechanisms for resource allocation. In the second phase, the study referred to primary data collected in a survey of key personnel from the health sectors of each country. FINDINGS: The trends and evidence reported in all five financing indicators may identify major weaknesses and strengths in health financing. CONCLUSIONS: Weaknesses: a lack of human resources trained in health economics who can implement changes, a lack of financial resource independence between the local and central levels, the negative behavior of the main macro-economic variables, and the difficulty in developing new financing alternatives. Strengths: the sharing between the central level and local levels of responsibility for financing health services, the implementation of new organizational structures for the follow-up of financial changes at the local level, the development and implementation of new financial allocation mechanisms taking as a basis the efficiency and equity principles, new technique of a per-capita adjustment factor corrected at the local health needs, and the increase of financing contributions from households and local levels of government.     

Organization and financing of mental health care in Poland

ORGANIZATION OF CARE: Health care is provided to patients with mental disorders by the state health care facilities as well as by social help agencies. Mental health care services are provided mostly by mental health facilities and partly by primary care units. Outpatient clinics, separate for psychiatric patients and substance abusers, are the most numerous mental health care units, amounting to a total of 1120. Intermediate care facilities include 110 day hospitals, 23 community mobile teams and ten hostels. The number of hospital beds amounts to 31913, i.e. 8.3 beds per 10000 population. 80% of beds are located in mental hospitals. TRENDS OF DEVELOPMENT: The trends in mental health care development are outlined in the Mental Health Programme and accompanying documents accepted by the Minister of Health and Social Welfare. The programme defines specific goals to be achieved by the year 2005 in the primary, secondary and tertiary prevention of mental disorders. In the domain of mental health care accessibility the most important goals are the following: a significant reduction in the number of beds in large mental hospitals, a marked (nearly threefold) rise in the number of beds in psychiatric wards at general hospitals and a significant increase in the number of community-based forms of care (e.g. a fourfold rise in the number of day hospitals). FINANCING OF CARE: Before 1999, the health care system was financed from the state budget and the health care spendings were subject to a political auction each year. Allocation of funds among hospitals and health care centres was based on the total previous year budgetary spendings of particular facilities and did not take into account a detailed cost analysis. Such a financing approach, although giving a feeling of a relative financial safety, did not encourage health care facilities to introduce an organizational flexibility and to expand the scope of their services. In psychiatry, it manifested itself in a very slow development of some community psychiatry forms (mostly day hospitals, mobile community teams and hostels). The Health Care Institutions Act has created a legal framework for the financial management of health care units in their new, independent form. Conditions for health care financing through regional sickness funds were thus created. The financing is currently based on contracts made by sickness funds with health care facilities for specific health services. Both the quantity and price of services should be mutually negotiated. Some simplified measures of services offered were used during the first insurance financing year. In mental hospitals and day hospitals it was a person-day; in out-patient care it was a visit. Both cost indicators were aggregated, including all the components present so far in the functioning a given unit.     

Community financing: Thailand's experience

This paper attempts to explain the basic concept behind thedevelopment of various community financing schemes for healthin Thailand. It gives a brief review of four major schemes,as well as the factors contributing to their success and failure.In Thailand, various community financing schemes were developedthrough the process of primary health care. These are consideredas part of the total community development rather than a meresource of financial support for health services. While the coverageof community funds amounted to almost 50% of the rural villages,the total amount of the funds was less than 1% of the totalhealth expenditure of the country. Village drug funds were the first scheme to be developed in1980. These were very successful, with a continuation rate (until1988) of up to 80.94%. The coverage of rural villages was almost50%, and the total fund amounted to 60 million bahts. The nutritionfund was the least successful scheme, due to its particularactivities, low acceptance among the people, and limited capitalappreciation. It now no longer exists. Sanitation and healthcard funds are fairly successful. They have higher capital appreciationand diverse sources of income. They contribute to the higherprovision of environmental sanitation and basic medical services. Many single purpose funds were diversified into multipurposehealth development funds or into multipurpose village developmentfunds. Four major factors which have contributed to the success/failureof community financing schemes: government policy, support fromhealth personnel, community infrastructure, and type of funds,are explored.     

ROI (return on investment): its role in voluntary hospital planning

Return on investment is the primary financial criterion used to evaluate the desirability of capital investment in investor-owned firms. Voluntary health care firms need to examine more carefully their return-on-investment levels. The potential loss of capital cost payment in the Medicare program and the removal of tax-exempt financing would raise the effective cost of capital to voluntary health care firms significantly. Many health care providers might find that they are no longer going concerns if capital costs increase much more.     

长期护理保险筹资:德日韩经验与中国实践

通过对德日韩长期护理保险筹资模式、渠道、责任分担和筹资水平的比较发现,三国筹资政策符合本国国情与制度传统,实行多渠道独立筹资,但三国经验亦表明,筹资责任要各方合理分担,现收现付筹资模式也难以应对人口老龄化的挑战。近年来,我国多地相继开展了长期护理保险实践,从筹资渠道、方式、责任分担和筹资水平四个维度对我国13个地区长期护理保险筹资情况进行比较分析发现,我国长期护理保险筹资存在诸多争议,未来我国长期护理保险筹资还需要从多方面加以完善。     

National Health Accounts development: lessons from Thailand

National Health Accounts (NHA) are an important tool to demonstrate how a country's health resources are spent, on what services, and who pays for them. NHA are used by policy-makers for monitoring health expenditure patterns; policy instruments to re-orientate the pattern can then be further introduced. The National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) of Thailand produces aggregate health expenditure data but its estimation methods have several limitations. This has led to the research and development of an NHA prototype in 1994, through an agreed definition of health expenditure and methodology, in consultation with peer and other stakeholders. This is an initiative by local researchers without external support, with an emphasis on putting the system into place. It involves two steps: firstly, the flow of funds from ultimate sources of finance to financing agencies; and secondly, the use of funds by financing agencies. Five ultimate sources and 12 financing agencies (seven public and five private) were identified. Use of consumption expenditures was listed under four main categories and 32 sub-categories. Using 1994 figures, we estimated a total health expenditure of 128,305.11 million Baht; 84.07% consumption and 15.93% capital formation. Of total consumption expenditure, 36.14% was spent on purchasing care from public providers, with 32.35% on private providers, 5.93% on administration and 9.65% on all other public health programmes. Public sources of finance were responsible for 48.79% and private 51.21% of the total 1994 health expenditure. Total health expenditure accounted for 3.56% of GDP (consumption expenditure at 3.00% of GDP and capital formation at 0.57% of GDP). The NESDB consumption expenditure estimate in 1994 was 180,516 million Baht or 5.01% of GDP, of which private sources were dominant (82.17%) and public sources played a minor role (17.83%). The discrepancy of consumption expenditure between the two estimates is 2.01% of GDP. There is also a large difference in the public and private proportion of consumption expenses, at 46:54 in NHA and 18:82 in NESDB. Future NHA sustainable development is proposed. Firstly, we need more accurate aggregate and disaggregated data, especially from households, who take the lion's share of total expenditure, based on amended questionnaires in the National Statistical Office Household Socio-Economic Survey. Secondly, partnership building with NESDB and other financing agencies is needed in the further development of the financial information system to suit the biennial NHA report. Thirdly, expenditures need breaking down into ambulatory and inpatient care for monitoring and the proper introduction of policy instruments. We also suggest that in a pluralistic health care system, the breakdown of spending on public and private providers is important. Finally, a sustainable NHA development and utilization of NHA for planning and policy development is the prime objective. International comparisons through collaborative efforts in standardizing definition and methodology will be a useful by-product when developing countries are able to sustain their NHA reports.     

Methods for the evaluation and analysis of health expenditure

The purpose of health expenditure evaluation is to give an overall picture of the amounts spent for the functions of the health system; it also allows the analysis of the financial flows between the financiers, producers and consumers of the health system. Principles of evaluation include: monetary evaluation (market prices); avoidance of double accounts; quick communication of data; use of all available reliable statistics; use of rough estimates rather than leaving blanks in tables. Information already available can be used. Statistics also should be collected from financing bodies, providers of medical care, sample surveys, and general sources. Many statistics cannot be used directly but must be processed, adjusted, or broken down. In order to analyze information for health services management, one must ask: who is financing the consumption of medical care, and what is the trend of medical expenditure by sector or activity? Over time, summaries should be used to analyze trends. At the macrolevel, structural trends can be compared, such as demographic factors, gross economic product, inflation, price of medical care, volume of medical care, and contribution of prices and volumes to increases in expenditures. Causes of these trends include factors such as changes in collective financing and developments in the health care system. A brief analysis of the trends in final medical consumption expenditure in France shows 3300 francs per person expended in 1979, (7.3% of the GNP in 1979). Tables for France show: type of expenditure; type of financing in 1979; medical expenditure as a % of the gross domestic product, 1950-1980; and type of financing, 1950-1978. Hospitalization has accounted for an increasing proportion of medical expenditure in France, reflecting improvement in quality of services offered by hospitals. Public financing is shown to be increasing in France.     

对营利性与非营利性医疗机构界定的探讨

营利性、非营利性医疗机构的产生与发展及其特征以及如何界定和管理。     

Teaching information management

Managing in the present chaotic hospital financing environment requires integrated clinical/financial data systems and people who know how to use them. Health care management students of the present and future will need to understand how these information systems are structured and used. This article describes a graduate course in integrated clinical/financial information management as it has evolved at Yale University. The course provides students a vicarious experience in information management through class sessions and exercises using a database of real patient and cost center level information. Health care management of the future will depend on interdisciplinary collaboration and partnerships in education between provider organizations and academic programs. Both are modeled in the course.     

Competition in health care: strategies from other industries

Health care managers can learn to adjust to competition by observing companies in other deregulated industries. Six basic strategies will separate the winners from the losers: Increase market share. This strategy requires not only increasing the share of current markets but also introducing new products and services into new markets. Scrutinize operations. Managers must be knowledgeable about strategic planning, adept at product line analysis, and skillful in using management information systems. Prune where necessary. Operations must be periodically reviewed to assess whether programs, products, and services continue to be profitable. Increase productivity. Productivity in this labor-intensive industry is essential. Wages may have to be reduced and staffing levels changed in the future to permit better control of labor costs. Increasing the volume of service, investing in nonclinical technology, and encouraging employee ideas also should be considered in seeking higher productivity. Strengthen the balance sheet. Hospitals should avoid incurring both long- and short-term debt, and they should attempt to accelerate repayment of long-term debt. Not-for-profit hospitals should investigate joint ventures, which spread the financial risk among investors, as means to raise capital to expand their operations. Increase cash. Prudent organizations will establish reserve funds, adopt fund-raising programs, and initiate improved cash collection systems. Health care executives also should reflect on how deregulation may affect their employees, the poor, and access to sophisticated medical procedures. The successful health care organization eventually will position itself in line not only with its markets but also with its mission and values.     

Hospitals and health systems: the best of times and the worst of times

Hospitals and health systems, whether general acute care hospitals or specialty-driven hospitals, are attempting to prosper in a unique time. This year, hospitals throughout the country will see increased reimbursement for hospital inpatient services, rather than decreased reimbursement. Many hospitals are examining a multitude of options for debt financing and a number of the nation's hospitals are in the process of renovating, expanding, or replacing their current hospitals. Further, more private equity and venture capital funds are pursuing hospital investments than seen in several years. Despite the positive signals stemming from many of the country's hospitals, this remains a time of tremendous uncertainty and risk in the hospital industry. This article discusses five strategic and development issues facing many hospitals and addresses how hospitals can prepare for the future should the current climate, supportive of growth, development, investment, and debt financing, change.     

ISO 9000族标准与医院质量管理

ＩＳＯ９０００族标准体系，作为质量管理、质量保证的国际标准，为医院质量管理提供了重要的标准化形式。通过对ＩＳＯ９０００族概况的介绍，以及各质量保证要素与医院质量管理的关系的分析，意在帮助人们进一步了解ＩＳＯ９０００族标准的内涵，提高对ＩＳＯ９０００在医院质量管理标准化建设方面重要意义的认识 。     

From assurance to insurance in Russian health care: the problematic transition.

OBJECTIVES: Given the declining health status of the Russian population and the negative social impact of ongoing economic reforms, it is important to understand the nature and scope of Russia's innovations in health care financing. METHODS: Data on Russian health care and its financing were gathered from Russian newspapers and journals. US government agency reports, recent press accounts, and the authors' observations and interviews in Russia. RESULTS: The 1991 statutory basis for the Russian mandatory medical insurance system replaced the traditional, state-funded medical care system with a regional system principally reliant on an enterprise-based with-holding tax plus supplementation by local government and, to a minor extent, federal funds. The regional agent for distribution and management of these funds is a series of Territorial Health Insurance Funds. Implementation thus far has been highly uneven among territories. CONCLUSIONS: An insurance model patterned after the Western example may not be the optimal solution to Russia's current health financing problems. Given the chaotic nature of political and economic reform, Russia may simply not be ready for market-based medical insurance.