Financial and non-financial determinants of the indebtedness of hospitals. The case of Poland

Abstract

The performance of Polish healthcare is still far from satisfactory, which is connected with growing indebtedness that adversely affects not only the development of healthcare but also the quality of medical services provided. In turn, the financial situation of hospitals depends on various indicators and the relationship between them. This paper investigates the determinants of healthcare sector functioning in the context of hospitals’ financial situation (dependent variable measured by total debt ratio). 321 individual public units were examined between years 2007–2017. More specifically, the fixed effects panel data model in question measures and evaluates the impact of economic, regional, institutional, and social factors in determining the dependent variable. This study confirmed dependencies between financial and non-financial ratios along with their impact on the financial condition of studied entities. The management implications of our study lay the groundwork for the improvement of efficient resource management for public hospitals.

Keywords:

• polish healthcare system
• hospitals’ financial situation
• debt ratio
• panel data analysis

JEL Classification:

• I11
• I18
• C5
• H4

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).