Optimizing the value of healthcare sector : developing a PPP framework in public procurement

Abstract

Due to the complexity and challenges faced in the healthcare sector in delivering the intended social value towards the right segment of patients, many public buyers are essentially concerned with the different risks involved within public-private partnership (PPP) projects. This requires identifying the most critical success factors (CSF) that contribute towards achieving value for money (VFM), the optimum combination of cost, quality, and sustainability. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the most important CSF in terms of its contribution to VFM and the degree of risk associated, followed by exploring the possibility of applying those same factors in a conceptual PPP framework. This research will firstly inspect the theoretical approaches related to public procurement and public-private partnership (PPP). It will provide a brief description of governments' and private partners' contributions to PPP projects. Afterward, both risk and VFM concepts are elaborated in detail, which leads that research study towards determining and describing CSF. Exploratory and quantitative methods are adopted, with primary data collected using a questionnaire survey from a list of public buyers residing in Finland. Such data collection process aims to gain insights into the most important CSF from the public buyer’s perspective, which offers researchers and public institutions strategic solutions within the explored conceptual framework that improve the success rates of PPP healthcare projects.