West Europe's for-profit hospital market is set to shrink by at least 10% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research done for the HBI Intelligence Centre.
After years of umming and ahhing, German doctors who own outpatient practices in areas like dentistry, imaging and ophthalmology are keen to sell. And deals continue to happen in spite of COVID.
The post-COVID-19 financial outlook for private hospitals in Western Europe is becoming clearer. Those in statutory insurance-funded markets are likely to be protected by the public payor while private insurers look unlikely to shoulder the burden. And reimbursement for any COVID-19 care will barely make up the difference.
The management and supervisory boards of German hospital operator Rhoen Klinikum have recommended shareholders accept competitor Asklepios' takeover offer of €18.00 per share. But 25% shareholder B. Braun is proving troublesome and with Rhoen's share price now at €18.64, the saga seems far from over.
Germany's arguably excessive hospital capacity, much of it in small regional hospitals, has proven an invaluable asset during coronavirus. A senior hospital executive tells us this may change policy conversations of the last 2-3 years around the need to trim the sector down, though paradoxically the crisis may also send the sector further into deficit.
As HBI Intelligence reviews the impact of COVID-19, HBI has been talking to operators and analysts. One EU-based operator says many markets across Europe will struggle to recover once the COVID-19 crisis has passed. Here is his view of where will be worst hit - and where we may see a surprising rebound.
As COVID-19 surges in Europe beyond the (reported) levels in its source country and across emerging markets, government utilisation of private hospital capacity is a mixed picture. And there are discussions about the possibility of wholesale requisitions of private capacity in emerging markets with under-resourced public healthcare systems.
Digital health companies across Europe have put out press releases left, right and centre about new free solutions designed to help with the coronavirus. What's the end goal?
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