Abstract

GORBANEFF, Yuri; TORRES, Sergio  and  CONTRERAS, Nelson. Insurance Power Sources facing Hospital Providers in the Colombian Health System. The Case of the Industrial Concentration. Rev. Gerenc. Polit. Salud [online]. 2008, vol.7, n.14, pp.177-186. ISSN 1657-7027.

The Colombian health system illustrates evidence of the market power of health insurance entities (EPS) with respect to hospital institutions (IPS). The study illustrates this hypothesis with empiric evidence and shows that the concentration of EPS entities is higher than that of IPS entities. Hospitals try to defend themselves, building concentration “islands” in select specialties. However, this concentration of specialties does not reach the level of concentration of the insurance entities. This lack of balance in the degree of concentration explains the market power executed by EPS entities in respect with IPS entities. The market power functions as one of the causes that explain the difficult financial situation of IPSs. It is recommended to find measures to correct this situation.

Keywords : Economy; Resource Allocation; Concentration; Market Power; Health Service; Case Study; Health Services Commercialization; Health Care Service Department; Case Study; Bogotá; Colombia.

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