Economic Crisis in Greek ORs

Kostantinia Karathanasi; Maria Malliarou; John Koutelekos; Pavlos Sarafis; Panagiotis Prezerakos

doi:10.4236/oalib.1101877

Home > Journals > Biomedical & Life Sciences | Business & Economics > OALibJ

Open Access Library Journal > Vol.2 No.10, October 2015

Economic Crisis in Greek ORs ()

Kostantinia Karathanasi^*, Maria Malliarou, John Koutelekos^*, Pavlos Sarafis^*, Panagiotis Prezerakos^*

Department of Nursing, Technological Institution of Thessaly, Thessaly, Greece.

DOI: 10.4236/oalib.1101877 PDF HTML XML 744 Downloads 1,341 Views Citations

Abstract

Greece’s economic crisis has deepened despite the measures taken by the international community in 2010. The Greek economy shrank by 20% between 2008 and 2012 without evidence of growth in 2014. The unemployment was 24.3% in 2012 (7.7% in 2008) and now the maximum rate of long-term unemployment went up to 14.4% [1]. The growing pressure from the Greek governments especially the hospitals budget cuts creates pressure on the effectiveness and efficiency, devastating the Greek healthcare system. Economic crisis in combination with the continuous growth of hospital costs services on one hand and the pressure by patients themselves for lower cost and better treatment on the other, has driven governments in Greece, to restructure the hospital sector (known as “hospital mergers”).

Keywords

Operating Room, Healthcare System, Hospital Cost, Austerity, Economic, Crisis, Greece

Share and Cite:

Karathanasi, K. , Malliarou, M. , Koutelekos, J. , Sarafis, P. and Prezerakos, P. (2015) Economic Crisis in Greek ORs. Open Access Library Journal, 2, 1-7. doi: 10.4236/oalib.1101877.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	Kentikelenis, A., Karanikolos, M., Reeves, A., McKee, M. and Stuckler, D. (2014) Greece’s Health Crisis: From Austerity to Denialism. The Lancet, 383,748-753. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(13)62291-6
[2]	Kentikelenis, A., Karanikolos, M., Papanicolas, I., Basu, S., McKee, M. and Stuckler, D. (2011) Health Effects of Financial Crisis: Omens of a Greek Tragedy. The Lancet, 378, 1457-1458. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(11)61556-0
[3]	Kiriopoulos, G. and Tsiandou, B. (2010) The Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Health and Medical Care. Archives of Hellenic Medicine, 27, 834-840.
[4]	Fragkiadakis, G., Doumpos, M., Zopounidis, C. and Germain, C. (2013) Evaluation of the Efficiency of Greek Hospitals: A Non-Parametric Framework and Managerial Implications. Financial Engineering Laboratory, Technical University of Crete.
[5]	Notara, V., Koulouridis, K., Violatyis, A. and Varga, E. (2013) Economic crisis and health. The role of health care professionals. Health Science Journal, 7, 149-154.
[6]	Giokas, D. (2001) Greek Hospitals: How Well Their Resources Are Used. Omega, 29, 73-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0483(00)00031-1
[7]	Economou, C. (2012) The Performance of the Greek Healthcare System and the Economic Adjustment Programme: “Economic Crisis” versus “System-Specific Deficits” Driven Reform. International Journal of Social Political Theory, 2, 33-68.
[8]	Liaropoulos, L., Siskou, O., Kontodimopoulos, N., Kaitelidou, D., Lazarou, P., Spinthouri, M. and Tsavalias, K. (2012) Restructuring the Hospital Sector in Greece in Order to Improve Effectiveness and Efficiency. Koinonikisynox-ikaianaptiksi, 7, 53-68.
[9]	OR Manager Inc (2013) Taking Small Steps to Control Supply Costs Yields a Much Better Bottom Line. OR Manager, 28, 1-4.
[10]	Simou, E. and Koutsogeorgou, E. (2014) Effects of the Economic Crisis on Health and Healthcare in Greece in the Literature from 2009 to 2013: A Systematic Review. Health Policy, 115, 111-119. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.healthpol.2014.02.002