Restructuring the hospital sector in Greece in order to improve effectiveness and efficiency

Abstract

This paper discusses the study focused on the reform of Greek Hospital Sector, also known as “hospital mergers”. The aim of the study was to propose a new pattern of organizing hospitals in groups based on the reform of emergency care and the management of five main chronic diseases (AMI, Stroke, Cancer, Diabetes Mellitus and COPD). The proposals in general concern the creation of a national network of health services provided mainly by primary healthcare units and the largest hospitals of the groups in each health region. In the context of improving the hospital sector efficiency, ways of collaborations between private and public sector and expenditure containment measures are presented. The restructuring of the public hospital sector relied on six specific criteria including the population criterion, catchment area, hospital size, infrastructure age, utilization of hospital facilities and cost. Due to its nature, the study was exposed to various factors such as the diversity of actors being involved, collection and compilation of the relevant data in a short term of three months, last minute adjustments and the variety of audience.