One in five hospitals struggling financially

Approximately one in five hospitals in the Netherlands are struggling financially. This applies in particular to smaller hospitals, whose finances are under the most pressure. The information comes from a study published on Wednesday by accounting and consulting firm BDO Branchegroep Zorg that analyzed the 2013 annual reports of 74 general hospitals in the Netherlands. According to the results of the study, small hospitals was relatively strongly dependent on compensation they received for possible revenue loss caused by the new billing system. New information must show whether these hospitals manage to absorb the loss of compensation into their business. The BDO states that the hospitals' results have improved compared to previous studies. But the growing market forces in healthcare and the sometimes unclear regulations cause a lot of uncertainty.