Zoekresultaten

… ......................................................................................... 28 Abstract Background Such as in many countries worldwide, hospitals in Germany and Austria are facing economic difficulties, and often result in insolvencies. With the introduction of the DRG system, competition was introduced and the pressure on hospitals further increased. Furthermore, patients value high quality care as highly important. Small hospitals have in general to resources to provide more … was expected to reduce the average length of stay (ALOS) by setting incentives for early discharge and avoiding unnecessary services as well as shifting services if possible to primary care providers. The latter was particularly emphasised in Austria, where a promotion and expansion of ambulatory care was describable. Moreover, a reduction of ALOS and the promotion of primary care should ultimately result in a reduction of beds and hospitals. (HOPE European Hospital and Healthcare Federation, 2009) … a classic business framework on hospitals, is the discussion whether the healthcare sector can be classified as a regular market. According to the definition of a market, the features of information symmetry, homogenous products, many sellers and buyers and entry restrictions are perquisites for a market to be efficient. However, some of these are argued not to apply to the health care market. The problem described is that professionals have more knowledge than their patients and therefore the …