46% of European hospitals are at risk of insolvency. To say it is a study by Accenture, the largest management consulting firm, relaunched by German TV Deutsche Welle.
The company analyzed 500 hospitals in 9 European countries, about 30% of all those existing in the countries under examination. The goal was to understand how well the structures could withstand a solvency test.
Accenture claims that 22% of European hospitals are in the high default risk range and are totally dependent on the body that finances them. The EU average of those at low risk is 54%.
In Italy, 16% of structures are at high risk of insolvency, 32% at medium risk and 52% at low risk. Data which, although slightly below the EU average, place Rome in a better position than Norway (41% at high risk), France and Austria (25% at high risk). The best situation is in Germany, the worst in Portugal, where almost 6 out of 10 hospitals are at high risk of insolvency.
But leading the ranking of those with the least internal financial risk is Italy. In Rome, the average profit margin is 12,1%, when the European average is still at 5%. “One hospital in 3 in Europe reports an operating loss – Accenture writes – This brings up a further financial challenge: while hospitals with a high probability of default struggle to recover resources from external sources, such as bank loans, those with a low or negative margin they will not be able to finance investments through cash flow.
