Hospital network management amidst covid-19: lessons from the Italian regions

It has become increasingly salient that publicly funded health care providers such as hospital are sensitive to incentives. There is increasing evidence that competition between health care providers produces efficiency and quality improvements (Gaynor and Propper, 2010), even when in some countries it has not produced the expected outcomes (Gobillon and Milcent, 2017). However, when health care providers compete with each other, coordination and information is left to market forces, via patients’ ability to choose the best provider, either public or private.This raises concerns during a pandemic, when swift decision-making reaching all health providers is so crucial.