Impact of austerity programs: Evidence from the Italian national health service

Abstract

Austerity measures are widely adopted to cope with financial straits. Since 2007 Italy has operated a financial recovery program ( Piani di Rientro, PdR) in certain regions of the country. This provides an interesting setting for an intra-national analysis of the differences between the regions under a PdR program and those which are not. In the regions under a PdR, efforts to achieve economic sustainability and fiscal balance have impacted on healthcare indicators, resulting in a reduction in healthcare resources, an increase in taxes, and a general weakening of regional healthcare systems since the introduction of the program more than a decade ago. The detrimental effects of the austerity measures have become evident. As the regions under a PdR have demonstrated a sufficient level of economic stability, the national government should start revising its austerity strategy to prevent further widening of gaps in healthcare performance between regions.

Machine Learning for Evaluating Hospital Mobility: An Italian Case Study

“…Italy's National Health Service is steadfast in providing high-quality medical care to all citizens. However, the regionalized health structure introduces performance disparities across regions, 2 prompting experts to scrutinize and benchmark regional health systems to discern models of excellence, areas needing improvement, and best practices [7].…”