Monitoring the financial evolution of Portuguese regional health administrations during adjustment that followed the European sovereign debt crisis

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis work aims analysing the performance of Portuguese health regional administrations by monitoring three financial variables during the adjustment that followed the European sovereign debt crisis based on analysis of variance ANOVA and multivariate cluster, HCA and discriminant, LDA analyses. The variables incomes and expenses show stable trends over the period with ANOVA results pointing to separation in four groups at the 5% significance level. A different picture is drawn from the variable of matured debt to suppliers that decreases continuously in the three different groups identified in the ANOVA and subsequently confirmed by HCA and LDA. Clear distinction between the health regions was attained through LDA with proposal of a new frame among health regional administrations with those of Algarve and Alentejo becoming aggregated. The high matured debt to suppliers in the region of Lisboa points to inefficient performance and future adjustment is suggested by subdivision in two regions with independent management and transferability of good practices namely those observed in the North region. Globally, stable levels of incomes and expenses are observed, pointing to maintenance or healthcare coverage to the Portuguese population under the severe recession context. Despite the effort to decrease matured debt to suppliers during the adjustment there is a recently threatening increasing tendency observed under the left socialist coalition government that should be closely assessed to avoid return to deranged management.