Talking about organizations

think: act CONTENT

2010

Healthcare in the Netherlands is facing a massive change towards performance-based funding and government deregulation resulting in increasing competition between organizations. The main reasons for this is that because of aging, increasing societal prosperity and innovation, healthcare costs have soared above economic growth. This means that every year more and more of public income is spent on healthcare. In order to control costs and keep healthcare accessible, the system is in the middle of a fundamental change. Since the 1990s, the Dutch healthcare system has been transitioning towards a free market. This means that the organizations within the sector must also change. Though they have received less attention in the past compared to the changes in the hospital segment, the cost pressure is being acutely felt in the areas nursing, care, home care for the elderly, disability care and mental health care, which together represent 35% of the Dutch healthcare system – a share greater than that of hospitals.

Facing these challenges by making clear, strategic choices (e.g. branding, differentiation), by (re)building operations around productivity and efficient purchasing, and by optimizing working capital and financing will prepare organizations in these sectors for the way ahead.

In this study Roland Berger Strategy Consultants addresses the reasons for the fundamental change in healthcare, the changes realized and expected in regulation and we discuss the way organizations can deal with these changes.