In recent years, the private health care sector has experienced one of the fastest rates of development.

In recent years, the private health care sector has experienced one of the fastest rates of development. With the pandemic, his contribution has become even more evident for the entire medical system – both in the laboratory and the field of testing, and when receiving patients who suddenly lost access to public health services. And after the pandemic, noticeable changes were observed in the medical behavior of Romanians, who began to worry more and more about prevention and their health in general.

In a context where the Romanian medical system is mainly treatment-oriented, the private medical sector plays an important role in educating the public about the importance of preventive services and regular annual check-ups. From the general point of view of the health care system, Romania registers significant gaps compared to the European Union, taking the last place in terms of health care expenditure per capita.

Private healthcare sector: EUR 450 million investment in medical infrastructure

The private system has continuously invested in Romania’s medical system, creating an infrastructure from scratch based on European models and Western standards. In 2020, approximately 450 million euros were invested in Romania, which is approx. 1.9% of total investment in the economy, according to EY research. Investments relate to the purchase of modern medical equipment, as well as the opening of Western-style medical institutions – polyclinics, laboratories, tomography centers or hospitals. By developing them and increasing the use of preventive services, the medical subscription market contributes to the reduction of curative (curative) services, which are much more expensive and have a much greater impact on the quality of life of patients, supporting the early detection or prevention of diseases.

Over the past 10 years, the Regina Maria healthcare network has invested more than 200 million euros in the creation of infrastructure (opening of clinics, hospitals, laboratories) and training of medical personnel, having treated more than 6 million unique patients. Regina Maria has developed more than 113,000 square meters of healthcare facilities, with more than 8,000 employees and associates.

Medical subscription market, double-digit annual growth

Against the background of the accelerated development of private medical services, the market of medical subscriptions has grown significantly in recent years. A trend that timidly began with corporations offering health care subscriptions to employees as a fringe benefit, following an important model from abroad, today the subscription has become a prevention tool available to other categories of workers – those who work in manufacturing, who I do not know . don’t usually go to the doctor for routine checkups.

Therefore, the subscription increases the level of medical literacy and the availability of medical services for vulnerable categories of the population. Until recently, membership was one of the standard corporate benefits offered to executives and office workers in general. Companies’ growing concern for the physical and emotional well-being of workers means that almost half of Regina Maria’s membership portfolio is now made up of manufacturing workers – essentially the tens of thousands of people who keep the economy going. The subscription is no longer an exclusive product. It is an affordable and extremely useful product. In addition to prevention, subscription is an important savings tool. At Regina Maria, the patient has access to information related to the total cost of the services he has chosen and how much he has saved #peabonament. In particular, the patient can see in real time in the section “My subscriptions” the amount saved for each service he received.

As of October 2022, Queen Mary Health Network has over 751,000 subscriptions, an increase of almost 15% over the last 12 months. The portfolio includes 10,000 companies, more than 40% of the largest employers in Romania.

Medical subscription, benefits for family members of employees

In the last year, we have an accelerated growth of 30% in the subscription of family members, half of whom are children – this is another figure that shows the increased interest in modern medical services, but also a trend that proves that society is becoming more educated and educated awareness of the importance of early consultation with a doctor. We even see that family members go to the doctor even more often than owners, with a difference of 10-13%, this trend is supported especially in the pediatric field. As you know, doctors are most often needed by children. – Andrea Minuce, Executive Director of Subscriptions at Regina Maria

A patient with a Regina Maria subscription makes an average of 7 doctor visits per year, about 3 times more than a patient without a subscription. And during these visits, the subscriber can receive an average of 24 medical services per year – consultations, examinations or laboratory tests. Statistics show that Romanians are beginning to understand the importance of medical prevention. In addition, internal research on the Web shows that subscription access rates are increasing within companies, reaching 70%, even reaching 100% in the case of some companies.

Regina Maria’s goal is for every Romanian employee to undergo at least one preventive check-up and one set of tests per year; all preventive and primary care services are included free of charge in the subscription. The subscription supports a healthy social trend and develops healthy habits, starting from the most basic cell of society: the family.

The article was approved by Queen Mary