THE ISSUE OF THE NUMBER OF HOSPITALS AND THEIR CAPACITY AND EFFECTIVENESS IN BULGARIA

Abstract

Over the last decade in Bulgaria medical institutions for health care have functioned in an unsustainable and unfavorable environment. This is particularly true for hospitals in towns or villages as some of them have gone bankrupt,while many of them have terminated their activities. As regards the number of hospitals per 100,000 people, Bulgaria is among the countries of the EU-27 with a relatively large number of hospitals – over 4.44 per 100,000 people. This is a third more than the average ratio of the EU-27 member states and 50% more than the new EU member states from Eastern Europe. This is why research into hospitals takes into account a problem which is very serious for Bulgaria, namely, the activities undertaken and their effectiveness. This article argues for the thesis that the government must stop the uncontrolled growth of medical institutions for health care and introduce a new system of funding according to which the patient must be treated in a complex way, not according to a clinical pathway, because costs do not meet the real expenses of the treatment of a patient with a particular diagnosis.