Strategies to Enhance Financial Performance in Hospitals

Health is a basic human right. Modern health systems must guarantee the right of every citizen to enjoy the highest attainable level of physical, mental and social health and wellbeing. The purpose of a health system is to address the needs of the population across the relevant range of care, i.e. protection-prevention, treatment and rehabilitation. A strong health system is a crucial factor for citizens' overall wellbeing. The importance of the health system, as well as the health sector in general, is growing worldwide due to increasing life expectancy and rapid scientific and technological progress. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the health sector has come to the forefront. The crisis has highlighted the need to protect public health and ensure the adequacy of drugs, materials and infrastructure, as well as the need to promote the research and development of new vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments. The health system faces significant pathologies, underfunding and understaffing problems in its departments, and above all inefficient distribution of materials and human resources. The public hospital operates as a system aimed at protecting and promoting the population's health. Public health policies, combined with high-level hospital care, are a pillar of the unified health system to which every person is entitled. Universal coverage, with a focus on ensuring the allocation of financial resources based on social interest, is the issue at stake. This paper attempts through a review of the literature to analyze strategies that could enhance cost efficiency in public hospitals.