ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS FOR VERTICAL INTEGRATION/FUNDAMENTOS ECONOMICOS PARA INTEGRACAO VERTICAL

According to received economic theory, vertical integration is mainly justified with the occurrence of productive efficiencies in addition of transaction costs between production stages. The present study aims to confirm the presence of these factors in the health care sector, thus justifying the urgency of vertical integration operations of the different health care stages. It is proposed an analysis of the vertical integration efforts in the Portuguese Health Sector, that comprises an attempt to decipher the benevolence and congruence of its catalysts, solutions and results. In addition, the results obtained with international operations of vertical integration are briefly reviewed and discussed, namely the positive outcomes regarding lifestyle diseases. It is generally expected that vertical integration in the health care sector should deliver more efficient and better health care to the populations, badly needed in low-income countries. Keywords: Vertical Integration, Productive Efficiency, Transaction Costs, Local Health Units, Health Care Provision., Lifestyle diseases. De acordo com a teoria economica, a integracao vertical e justificada principalmente pela ocorrencia de eficiencias produtivas, alem dos custos de transacao entre as fases de producao. O presente estudo tem como objetivo confirmar a presenca desses fatores no setor de saude, justificando, assim, a urgencia das operacoes de integracao vertical das diferentes etapas da cuidados de saude. Propoe-se uma analise dos esforcos de integracao vertical no Sector da Saude Portugues, que compreende uma tentativa de decifrar a benevolencia e congruencia dos seus catalisadores, solucoes e resultados. Alem disso, os resultados obtidos com as operacoes internacionais de integracao vertical sao brevemente revisados e discutidos, ou seja, os resultados positivos em relacao as doencas do estilo de vida. Em geral, espera-se que a integracao vertical no setor da saude ofereca servicos de saude mais eficientes e melhores as populacoes. Palavras-chave: Integracao Vertical, Eficiencia Produtiva, Custos de Transacao, Unidades Locais de Saude, Prestacao de Cuidados de Saude, Doencas relacionadas com o Estilo de Vida.