Restructuring of Public Healthcare Units (Hospitals) from 1991 to 2013, Causes and Effects

Abstract

The transformation of the Polish economy could not ignore the healthcare system. The main element of that system is that public health care units were operating mainly in the form of budgetary units. These institutions were underfunded by the State, ineffectively managed and supervised which led to their poor economic and financial situation . The restructuring of the healthcare system began in the 1990s and it is still continuing. Improvement to the system requires huge financial resources. In the first step of the transition, started from 1991, non-public institutions have been allowed to operate as a competitive element to that system. The next step, public health care units obtained a legal status , financial autonomy and the healthcare system started to be based on the insurance system. The final step of the restructuring is commercialization, including the possibility of privatization. At every step of the transition healthcare units or theirs public owners were financially supported by the State budget due to their difficult financial situation . Is it enough to keep them operating in the long run? Irrespective of the requirement for good management and effective supervision, it will also depend on, amongst other things, the amount of financial resources spent on medical treatment under the public health insurance system.