title: Reengineering NHS Hospitals in Greece: Redistribution Leads to Rational Mergers.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to record and evaluate existing public hospital infrastructure of the National Health System (NHS), in terms of clinics and laboratories, as well as the healthcare workforce in each of these units and in every health region in Greece, in an attempt to optimize the allocation of these resources. An extensive analysis of raw data according to supply and performance indicators was performed to serve as a solid and objective scientific baseline for the proposed reengineering of the Greek public hospitals. Suggestions for "reshuffling" clinics and diagnostic laboratories, and their personnel, were made by using a best versus worst outcome indicator approach at a regional and national level. This study is expected to contribute to the academic debate about the gap between theory and evidence based decision-making in health policy.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Science, Hellenic Open University & Institute for Social and Preventative Medicine. anikolentzos@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nikolentzos
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kontodimopoulos
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Polyzos
authors.forename: Eleftherios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Thireos
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tountas
mesh_terms: D006115:Greece; D006273:Health Facility Merger; D006295:Health Resources / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006280:Health Workforce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000600:supply & distribution; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*