OVER 275,000 PEOPLE IN THE CANARIES HOLD PRIVATE MEDICAL INSURANCE POLICIES
52% of hospitals in the Canaries are private; in the autonomous region the sector has 75% of the magnetic resonance equipment and 47% of CT scanning equipment in the region.
The Canary Islands destine 286 million euros to the private healthcare sector, which represents 10.3% of the region’s health budget. Hemodialysis and respiratory therapies are the most contracted services in the islands.
Data from the Private Health Care in the Canaries Barometer gives a B+ to the overall healthcare services in the private sector. Furthermore, 25% of private healthcare services in the region state they exclusively use private healthcare services.
Santa Cruz de Tenerife, September 26 2014:- “The role of private health care in the Canary health system is essential to providing, be means of public-private collaboration policies, advances in organization, efficiency, cost control, etc.”, states Juan Abarca, general secretary of the Institute for Development and Integration of Health Care (IDIS) at the opening of the Conference “Private Health Services in the Canary Islands: Adding Value”, organized by Hospiten and IDIS in Santa Cruz de Tenerife and which was opened by the Canary Government’s councilor for Health Services, Brigida Mendoza.
For instance, “it can be said that more than 275,000 people in the Canaries1 have a private medical insurance policy and that the region has 22 private hospitals, which is 52% of the hospitals and 35% of the hospital beds in the islands”, confirmed Manuel Vilches, general manager of the IDIS, during the conference.
According to data for 2013, private health services in the Canary Islands represents 24% of the total health budget, public and private, which is similar to the national average. With reference to this, the general manager of the IDIS explained that “it is noteworthy that the total health cost per capita is 1,674 euros (the sum of public costs of 1,274 euros and private costs of 400 euros), which is similar to the national total, where private costs are 495 euros and public costs 1,236 euros”. On the other hand, Juan Jose Hernandez, CEO of the Hospiten Group, stated that “In the Canary Islands there has been an annual increase of 2.2% in the number of policy holders and 4.3% in the volume of premiums for the period 2010-2012, which represents 3% of the national market of premium volume".
The data shows that almost 50% of surgical interventions are carried out in the private sector and that the private sector has 75% of the magnetic resonance equipment and 47% of CT scanning equipment in the autonomous region.
The Canary Islands is yet another example of the need for both systems, public and private, to complement each other to be able to provide quality health care and efficiency in a sustainable way. And so, the data presented today shows that the autonomous region destines around 286 million euros to contracting public-private health services, which represents 10.3% of its budget. According to the paper “Collaboration of the public-private sectors in the Health Service included in the Private Health Service Report. Adding Value, Situation Analysis 2014”, developed by IDIS, it is observed that the Canary Health Service contracts the services of the private sector in different areas, with hemodialysis (28% of the costs contracted) and respiratory therapies (10%) standing out above others. On the other hand, “with 61% covered by ‘other health services’”, where contracts related to rehabilitation and socio-healthcare services stand out”, explained the Hospiten Group CEO.
In addition to contracts for specific services in the region, is outsourced management of public services for the provision of hemodialysis services at the Dr. Negrin University Hospital of Gran Canaria and at the Dr. Jose Molina Orosa Hospital in Lanzarote.
Satisfaction of Canary policyholders
Statistics on the demand for private health care are, undoubtedly, an indicator of the satisfaction of the user who chooses to use that health service model. For that reason, the IDIS wanted to evaluate different aspects of private health services in the ‘Private Health Care Barometer’ which produced some interesting details in the Canaries, such as the fact that 25% of users state they use private health services exclusively and that 79% of insurance policyholders in the Canaries give the services B+ in terms of satisfaction.
The barometer also reveals that Canary users give an average score of 7.7 to the quality of private health services and 7.5 to the care given and accessibility. Among the highest scoring aspects are reduced waiting times for diagnostic tests and results, with scores over 7.6. Furthermore, Juan Jose Hernandez states that, “it is noteworthy that Canary insurance policyholders give 8.7 to the care received whilst admitted to hospital, followed by 8.2 in the case of the emergency services and 7.9 for primary care and specialist consultation”.
Referring to the results presented at the conference, the honorary president of the IDIS, Pedro Luis Cobiella stated, at the closing act in which the mayor of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Jose Manuel Bermudez Esparza also participated, that “private health care plays a fundamental role in sustaining the health system, the economy and employment, as well as playing an important role in technological advancement, improving quality and in the continued education of professionals. Private health care is a strategic partner in continuing to move forward and public-private collaboration has become the axis with which to guarantee the sustainability of the national health service”.
About IDIS
The IDIS is a non-profit entity whose aim is to assess the contribution of private health care to the country’s health service and to promote improvement of the health of the Spanish people. To do so, the institute foments and develops all initiatives, including research, that from the private sector focus on the achievement of optimum levels of health and medical care for all sectors of the population.
At present, the IDIS Trust is made up of 23 groups involved in the private health sector in this country: the Catalan Association of Health Companies (ACES), Adeslas SegurCaixa, Asisa, Axa, Caser, DKV, Eresa, Quiron Hospital Group, IMO Group, Innova Ocular Group, Hospiten Group, Gehosur Hospitals, HM Hospitals, NISA Hospitals, IDCSalud, IMQ, Hispalense Pediatrics Institute, MAPFRE, Recoletas, Red Asistencial Juaneda, Sanitas, Unilabs and Vithas.