Pippo Dell’Acqua  interview on private healthcare companies 

Good morning Pippo, as the CEO of the Italian branch of an American multinational company in the private healthcare sector, what do you see as the main opportunities for growth in the management of private healthcare facilities in Italy?

Based on my experience, I see the private healthcare industry, especially in Italy, as a dynamic area undergoing rapid change and development. 

In particular, I see a trend toward growth and evolution into more mature and structured forms of management for traditionally small and often family-run businesses. 

Several factors are driving this necessary development: from investments in the sector, sometimes involving foreign partners, which increase competitiveness, to regulatory innovations and changes in the collaboration schemes with the public system, which favor and require a transition to more mature management and organizational systems.

With this view of development in mind, what are the most necessary managerial skills, or those that should be developed, for the economically profitable management of private healthcare both hospitals and diagnostic facilities?

It must be noted that the economic management of private healthcare organizations in Italy is deeply conditioned by the rigid tariffs recognized by either the public system and, on the other hand, by the insurances. This imposes a recovery in efficiency and management control that traditional private healthcare structures have struggled to achieve in the recent past. 

Considering also specific legislative innovations that have taken place over the last decade, I believe that the areas in which development projects may be most effective are those of management control, internal organization, digitization, legal and insurance management of claims.

Finally, what characteristics should a transition manager have in order to meet the expectations of Italian and international companies and their shareholders for the growth of value in this sector, and why should external managers be preferred to medical professionals already working in healthcare facilities?

The transition management scheme is particularly suited to private healthcare structures, especially for the development and implementation of specific development projects such as those mentioned above. 

First of all, this approach allows even small companies to limit and isolate investments and costs related to specific projects without having to intervene on recurring expenses such as those related to hiring new resources; besides, the cost to be incurred should be seen as a pure investment, not as a cost. Furthermore, through a program of transition management, a company can have access, at predetermined and limited costs, to specialized and high-level professional support, which may also provide a more convenient timeframe for selecting, or developing internally, the resources dedicated to the long-term legal and insurance management of claims.

Before we go, what led you to consider a partnership with AXCEL Partners Italia to complement your professional experience as a business lawyer and CEO multinational private healthcare companies?

I see AXCEL Partners as a dynamic and highly professional company, offering to its clients an innovative form of consulting and management support that provides great flexibility and versatility.

In particular, I also feel that my collaboration with AXCEL Partners may be an ideal complement to my professional life, allowing me to fully exploit and express the experience I have developed as a legal consultant and later as an operative manager.