Preparation of the primary health care physicians for the management of the private health care offices in Croatia

Aim Health care system in the Croatia is undergoing major reforms, including re-organization of primary healthcare offices from being a part of state-governed primary healthcare units into private practices. To be successful, private practitioner's teams have to acquire new skills and knowledge from the fields of legal provisions, financial management, and capital management of human resources. Methods 48 teams underwent education in management conducted by a licensed health care manager and a lawyer and an economist specialist for health care systems, while 54 teams did not undergo any kind of education to prepare them for the market. Results The results of sanitary, financial, tax, health insurance inspection and audition were satisfactory after three years of follow tip. Proportion of positive inspection results was stable during the follow-up period in both groups, but was significantly higher in the group with training comparing to the group without training for each year: Participants in the group with training paid less income taxes in each year and on average during the 3-year follow-up period, amounts of income tax paid in the second and third year did not differ, but were significantly less than in the first year. Amounts of income tax significantly changed during the follow-up period in both groups. There is no significant difference in the number of work disputes between the groups. Conclusion Good preparation Of future private entrepreneurship doctors gave positive long-term results in functioning of private medical offices, and should be recommended as a standard.