PERCEPTION OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC MEDICAL SERVICES IN ROMANIA

This paper presents the Romanian medical system and the modality in which the State through the government-funded public healthcare system protects its citizens. Legislation is an important instrument which can create the premises for an adequate protection of health. Recently, the Law on healthcare reform, which concerns the organization of hospitals, has led to major debates. The private medical services are an alternative which started to develop. In this context, we conducted an exploratory research in order to analyze the perception of private and public medical services in Romania, by using quantitative market research techniques (market survey). The research showed that the public system is perceived as not satisfactory and a reform of the system is perceived as being opportune, but the solution is not simply the diminution of the charges. Moreover, the research revealed the fact that the private medical services in Romania are not sufficiently developed. The subjects interviewed consider that the State plays a major role in the reform of the medical system and that there are important measures that the state should implement.