Documentos de Trabajo sobre Economía Regional y Urbana (only in Spanish) - Public hospitals accounts receivable and regional differences in the provision of health services in Colombia

Abstract

This document describes the state and evolution of the public hospital portfolio in Colombia and how it relates to some quality indicators in the provision of health services at the regional level. The analysis of the public hospital portfolio is based on data from the Hospital Information System (SIHO, in Spanish), which contains the information reported to the Ministry of Health and Social Protection. We have data for 931 hospitals. 85% of hospitals are level I because they offer low complexity services; 12% are level II and offer services of intermediate complexity, while 3% are level III and offer high complexity services. In addition, according with data from the National Quality of Life Survey, the Special Registry of Health Service Providers, and the Single National Registry of Human Talent in Health (ReTHUS, in Spanish), this paper presents regional differences in some hospital infrastructure indicators, as well as in indicators of the quality of health services. We find that some departments of the Caribbean Coast (such as Cesar, Sucre and Atlántico) have the higher availability of hospital beds while Bogotá, Valle and Antioquia have the greatest availability of human resources. The departments of the Orinoquia, Pacifica and Amazon regions are lagging in both factors. Finally, the relationship between the public hospitals portfolio and some quality indicators is explored.