The Rovinj hospital signs agreement with two Italian hospitals and the region of Veneto.
County Hospital for Orthopedics and Rehabilitation “Martin Horvat” in Rovinj has signed an agreement with two Italian hospitals and the Italian region of Veneto with the aim of exchange of patients, development of health tourism and joint withdrawal of grants from EU funds, reports tportal.hr on November 14, 2017.
The international cluster will bring Italian patients to Rovinj, facilitate easier access to EU funds, develop diagnostic and telemedicine systems, digitise hospital records and enable continuous training of healthcare professionals, said Marinko Rade, the director of the Rovinj hospital.
The agreement was signed with the healthcare region “Veneto Orientale”, centred in San Dona di Piave, and Italian hospitals in Mestre and Jesolo, with whom the Rovinj hospital will exchange personnel, education services and telemedicine development initiatives. The first Italian patients are expected to arrive within two years.
“We are the first Croatian hospital to enter an international health tourism cluster with the idea of connecting functionalities of Italian hospitals and facilitating the arrival of Italian patients in Rovinj, paid by the Italian health insurance system,” said the director of one of few Croatian hospitals which achieve positive financial results.
Their goal is to equalise the standards of treatment with Italian hospitals, raise the level of expertise and use international protocols. “Patient exchange is a hot topic in European healthcare so that we will apply with this project for funding from the European Union”, said Rade, adding that Italian patients will be able to be monitored by their doctors through telemedicine while they are at rehabilitation in Rovinj.
The hospital in Rovinj is primarily a rehabilitation hospital with 220 beds, and half of its revenues come from the private market, mostly from Austrian patients. “We have had positive financial results for four years now. We are renovating the hospital and have no debt,” said the head of the hospital specialising in orthopaedic rehabilitation.
Rade pointed out that, out of a total of 220 hospital beds, 80 are reserved for patients whose bills are paid by the Croatian Health Insurance Institute (HZZO), and the waiting period is less than two months. Priority is given to postoperative patients who receive the rehabilitation slots in even shorter time.
Translated from tportal.hr.
