Hospital Outcomes Index highest for private hospitals
The situation on the hospital market over the last 10 years was at its worst in autumn 2020, according to research conducted periodically by PMR. This applies to all hospitals, public and non-public. Based on the latest edition of PMR’s survey done for the report “Public and non-public hospital market in Poland 2022. Investment plans and comparative analysis by voivodship”, the market sentiment has improved and the Hospital Outcomes Index was highest for private facilities.
The private hospital market is finally showing signs of optimism
At the time when the survey was carried out (most interviews were conducted in January 2022), PMR Hospital Outcomes Index was better than in 2020. The reason was that hospitals were better prepared for the next wave of the pandemic than in autumn 2020, although in this edition of the survey there were also voices about staff fatigue or the inability to operate to the same extent as before the pandemic.
Find comprehensive information about the current state of the Polish public and non-public hospital market in the PMR report:
Public and non-public hospital market in Poland.
Investment plans and comparative analysis by voivodship.
The value of the Index is highest for private hospitals, for which the PMR Hospital Outcomes Index was positive for the first time since 2017. They seem to have coped quite well during the pandemic. In autumn 2020, the Index was very low (-5.7), with the lowest possible figure of -15. This was the worst result in the entire period when the Index was measured (since 2012). This was due to the fact that private hospitals carried out a high proportion of planned procedures that had to be postponed or cancelled in 2020, as well as to the economic recession, which negatively affected the purchasing power of potential private hospital patients.
COVID-19 pandemic and the effects of the war in Ukraine – new challenges for hospitals
The PMR survey conducted in early 2022 among hospitals in Poland showed that the COVID-19 pandemic still remained the biggest barrier to their operations. In 2020, there was a decrease in the value of hospitalisations – under funding according to so-called homogeneous patient groups – by one-fifth.
While the direct impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the market is diminishing, hospitals face another huge challenge in 2022: the influx of refugees into Poland. According to PMR’s analysis, hospitals in Poland have a base of nearly 190,000 beds, more than three-quarters of which are located in public units. The healthcare system may become overloaded due to a sudden increase in the number of patients who need medical assistance. At the same time, in the near term and in the years to come, we expect to see an increase in the number of patients reporting at hospitals with a backlog of neglected health needs that were put on hold during the pandemic.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war there will also have a negative impact on the performance of the Polish economy in 2022. Although the scale of the impact is very difficult to determine, it is possible to distinguish several factors due to which this negative effect on the Polish economy will take place (or is already taking place). These factors are generally stagflationary in nature, i.e. they simultaneously result in the decline in economic activity and the rise in prices.
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Senior Analyst