Szpitale niepubliczne w województwie małopolskim - profil działalności oraz znaczenie w systemie lecznictwa

The aim of the article is to characterize the profile of the non-public hospitals functioning in one of the Polish provinces – Malopolska region and their participation in the in-patient services delivery. As the process of privatization of the Polish health care sector, launched in 90. is progressing (especially in the out-patient sector), the hospitals remain dominantly public area – in 2008 about 93% of the hospital beds belonged to the public sector. Additionally, according to the Polish law, the non-public hospitals group includes both the private owned hospitals, as well as those owned by the local governments units, but run in a form of companies (mainly limited liability and joint stock companies). The private hospitals functioning in Malopolska region are usually small units, specialized in narrow disciplines – mainly: gynaecology and obstetrics, surgery, nefrology (dialysis units), and rehabilitation. In 2009 majority of them signed contracts with the National Health Fund (public health insurance payer) and delivered services for the public health insurance patients. Specific for hospital services – high costs of both delivery and equipment maintenance are the main reasons for significantly smaller than in out-patient services, contribution of the private sector.