Paid visits and exams at pre-Covid levels

The activity of general health is increasing in the womb. Cardiology, gynecology and orthopedic examinations, and for diagnostic purposes, electrocardiograms, Doppler (color) ultrasound of the heart, abdominal ultrasound, and unilateral or bilateral breast ultrasound are the most requested activities. Approximately 56% of bookings have a waiting time of less than 10 days; 30% are scheduled between 11 and 30-60 days (depending on whether it is a specialist visit or a useful service); only 14% of bookings have to wait longer than 30 to 60 days.

After the decline (-28%) in 2020, indoor activity is starting to rise again in Italy, as reported in the annual report of the Ministry of Health on the status of implementation of the practice of indoor free activity for 2022, which the Ministry of Health sent to Parliament.

Already in 2021, after the most difficult period of Covid, the trend was reset with previous years and total revenue reached EUR 1,087 billion, an increase of 33% compared to the previous year. 2022 also saw a significant increase of 8%, with revenue reaching EUR 1,177 million.

In terms of per capita expenditure, the value of domestic accommodation in 2022 is 20 euros per citizen residing in Italy, but the situation is very diverse throughout the national territory with strong contrasts between the north and the south of the country, both in terms of income value and per capita expenditure – occurs in terms of variation compared to similar data referring to the previous year.

In particular, in 2022, the highest peaks were recorded in Emilia Romagna (€34.8/year), Valle d’Aosta (€32.2/year), Piedmont (€29.9/year) and Tuscany (€28.6/year) while per capita spending on services is minimal in Molise (€4.4/year), Calabria (€5.5/year) and in the province of Bolzano (€6.5/year), and generally well below the national average in the southern regions. The data reveal that profits also grow from €235 million to €256 million, i.e. approximately +8.5%, a percentage in line with the increase in costs. At national level, the bulk of revenues from internal activity come from the specialized services sector, which will stabilize at more than 68% in 2022. The share of internal independent activity linked to the hospital area represents 19.5%.

From 2014 to 2022, the number of doctors practicing internal medicine decreased by 8,209 operating units, i.e. more than 15 percentage points. Finally, the report presents a framework for the internal spaces of companies to ensure the exercise of independent professional activity within the community: 8 autonomous regions and provinces (Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Molise, Bolzano, Trento, Tuscany, Valle d’Aosta and Veneto) declared that they had sufficient space for all medical directors, while in other contexts the majority of companies have resorted to activating the pilot program (81.5%). A more modest proportion of companies have started to sign agreements with other public structures (7.4%) or to rent accredited and non-accredited healthcare facilities (11.1%).