ABSTRACT

At present, a number of regions in Italy have health-care budget deficits. The negative balances have accumulated over several years, and they have now become a significant financial burden for many districts. For example, the estimated debt of the Lazio region at the end of December 2011 stood at €12 billion. Since 2007, several regions have introduced cost-cutting plans. Th is chapter aims to examine the extent to which these plans match current trends in strategic planning for health-care organizations (local health-care agencies and hospital agencies) and how regional cost-cutting plans can be implemented successfully on a micro level.