01.03.2009

FINANCE

Presented and organised by ECR 2009 and European Hospital

Financing hospital equipment

André Hoppen is a medical doctor and health economist. In his role as Sales Manager for VR Medico Leasing GmbH, in Berlin, Germany, he focuses on the development of financing solutions in cooperation with banks, distributors and manufacturers.
When it comes to leasing contracts, hospitals can choose between manufacturer-owned leasing; the independent leasing companies that mainly offer contracts with small business volumes, and bank-linked leasing. Before making a decision on which strategy to choose there must be a clear understanding of how a hospital draws up the balance sheets, as well as why and how balances function, based on the Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). Additionally, there is a difference in the balance sheets of European countries, as well as the specific requirements as to how a leasing contract should be set up. Another important point is to monitor whether the facility actually generates enough money in working with the leased equipment to cover the monthly outgoings of the lease. This involves assessing how many private payers, private patients, patients covered by medical insurers and referring doctors pass through and what types of patients with what GOA figure (physician fee schedule figure) these are. Considering all this with thought, the lease contract should in each case be put to the acid test before being closed.