Healthcare Financial bottlenecks: university hospitals demand tariff changes

Faced with financial bottlenecks, Switzerland's university hospitals are pushing for an increase in inpatient and outpatient tariffs in order to safeguard highly specialized care.

The university hospitals in Switzerland are facing considerable financial challenges. Representatives of these institutions and the medical faculties emphasized at a media conference in Bern that all university hospitals were facing negative annual results in 2023. In total, the deficit amounts to 210 million francs.

The pressure to invest in new infrastructure is high. This concerns both the construction of new facilities and digitalization, in particular the development of a robust data infrastructure and the implementation of the care initiative. These investments are necessary in order to meet the increasing requirements.

Last year's financial losses are mainly due to increased costs as a result of inflation and wages. Despite renegotiations on inpatient tariffs, the financial situation remains tense.

The situation is particularly critical in the outpatient sector, where tariffs have not been adjusted for two decades and do not cover costs. This discrepancy represents a considerable burden for hospitals and requires urgent measures.

Challenges in the outpatient sector

The university hospitals emphasize that the inadequate tariffs in the outpatient sector jeopardize the sustainable financing of highly specialized care. Without an adjustment to the tariffs, care threatens to become a pure cost factor, which could compromise the quality of medical services in the long term.

SDA