Public-private partnership in the Portuguese health sector

Abstract

Since 2001, in Portugal, constant reforms in hospital management have accompanied the transformations in the management models applied to public administration, intending to ensure a higher quality of services and, simultaneously, a more significant economic efficiency. This study aims to analyse, for the period between 2012 and 2021, the economic and financial results (value-for-money) of the PPP model, compared with the public management hospitals (PMH). It used a mixed research approach based on multiple case studies and archival research. As the main results, it was found that: i) the PPP model, applied to the health sector, appears to be advantageous, not only regarding the economic and financial results but also concerning the quality of service provision; and ii) despite the value-for-money generated by the PPP model, the lower operating costs and the superior performance in comparison with PMH, the government has permanently opted to revert from a PPP model to a PMH model. This study concluded that the hospital management model is instead seen as an instrumentalised political instrument than a management tool that could generate savings for the taxpayers. Several practical implications are presented.

Keywords

• Public management hospitals
• Public-private partnerships
• Health service quality
• Value-for-money
• Public sector comparator