“Without us the system would collapse, creating intolerable inequalities in our country.” It was clear Averardo Ortavice president of Aiop (Italian Association of Private Hospitals) Emilia Romagnaon the occasion of the presentation of the sixth social budget of the association of accredited private healthcare provider. A claim of the importance of the work carried out, his, supported by the data: considering the area it includes Bologna and Ferrarathe 15 Aiop structures from 1,688 total beds (of which 81% accredited with the National Health System) offered 556,123 outpatient services, that is, 40% of all those in the «Emilia Central» area, with peaks in rehabilitation and laboratory tests.
The Aiop: «We are not private but public structures»
During the presentation – which was held at the headquarters of Nomisma – the debate on the topic of healthcare privatization has been reignited: «It is a much discussed topic – added Orta – even more so in this electoral period. The slogans, however, do nothing but simplify. We are not private facilities, because in the private structure the citizen goes and pays, with his wallet or with insurance. We we are public facilitiesbut under private law. We don’t pay for it and for this reason we should be defended like Sant’Orsola, Rizzoli and Maggiore. Studies by the Region have shown that in rehabilitation we cost 100 euros per day less than the exact same service, with the same identical results, produced by a public health facility”. All this, according to Aiop, leads to a saving of resources such as to avoid cuts and allow the provision of other services.
Orta: «The need for drugs and new technologies is growing»
In addition to this, which now appears to be a vexed question, another pressing issue was touched upon, which is precisely that of cuts to healthcare. «The difficulties – Orta further explained – do not concern the National health fundwhich in absolute terms is growing, but today the needs are increasing faster, between new drugs and new technologies. This is the real issue to be resolved.”
Growth of “health tourism”: Puglia, Tuscany and Veneto in the lead
From the data presented, an increase in the so-called «health tourism» in the accredited private hospital facilities of Bologna and Ferrara. Of the 42,440 patients discharged in 2023, in fact, 19,220 come from outside the Region, approximately 45.3% of the total compared to 42.7% in 2019. VEneto, Tuscany and Puglia are the main regions from which the patients who have decided to be treated in the accredited facilities in the area come.
I am 45 Aiop ones located throughout Emilia-Romagna, where 8,822 employees and collaborators work (an increase of 19% compared to 2016), for a total offering of 5,351 beds of which 92% are accredited by the National Health Service.
The accredited private individual from Emilia-Romagna is worth 922 million euros
According to the illustrated report, Aiop Emilia-Romagna produces a value of 922 million and has an overall effect on the economy of 1,448 billion . The regional councilor for health policies thought of reiterating the importance of this reality, Raffaele Donini: «Aiop represents an important leg of the public system, because it can help us meet the challenge of reducing waiting times for diagnostic and specialist services».
