The developments that are currently underway in the health care system will bring about extensive changes in the hospital market in the coming years. The DRGs (Diagnosis Related Groups / lump compensations) cause enormous cost pressure for hospitals. Furthermore, rising wages, higher energy costs and a greater demand for staff and materials due to a rising number of patients will lead to significant cost increases in the clinics. Because budgets for hospital services are capped, in 2008 the cost incurred by hospitals are expected to be between 1.3 and 2.2 billion euros above earnings1). This corresponds to 2 to 3% of the clinic budgets so far. If the developments continue in this way, by 2020, 40% of clinics will face insolvency if no countermeasures are taken. Despite bed reductions, shorter inpatient stays and an increase in the number of patients, underfunding is still an issue.

The facts:

  • In the past 10 years, the number of hospital beds has dropped by almost 16% (-105,914).
  • In the same period, the number of hospitals dropped by only 0.7% (-169).
  • The number of inpatients rose by 18.4%, 2.5 million more per year.
  • Despite greater workloads, the personnel cost ratio has been declining for years. While in 1995, it was still at 66.8%, it was only 62.9% in 2006.
  • Reduction of average inpatient stay in the past 10 years by 30.8% from 14.6 to 10.1 days.

 

In order to be able to treat more patients with fewer beds in a shorter period of time, significant infrastructural and organisational investments are of paramount importance. However, the hospital investment backlog is currently assessed at 30 to 50 billion euros. As a result, it is expected that many clinics will either be sold or privatised. Publicly funded hospitals will be particularly affected because here the difference between investment needs and available funds is the greatest. In addition, new legal regulations open up the inpatient market for outpatient service providers.

Hospitals are therefore facing increasingly stiff competition and are forced to adjust their healthcare services and market position to changing conditions.  The interlinking between inpatient and outpatient treatment presents new ways of differentiation from the competition.

Angermann & Partner

  • supports you in the strategic development of your company and helps you open up new sales fields in a profitable way
  • helps you identify and implement measures that make you more efficient and lower costs
  • is happy to provide you access to its network of funds and banks and provides scope for developing a sustainable future