The Republic of Slovenia wishes to maintain and strengthen public health, within which service providers try to act in the public interest of the citizens in a non-profit way. According to assessments by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the healthcare system in Slovenia is among the best functioning systems in Europe.

Public and private service providers and concessions

In Slovenia, public healthcare activities are carried out within a public healthcare network, and public healthcare institutions are also designed as service providers. These include primary healthcare centres, hospitals, social assistance institutions, pharmacies, and other institutions. When carrying out and planning their activities, they are obliged to provide conditions for fulfilling healthcare and tasks related to promoting, preserving, and restoring health. Public healthcare institutions are established by the state and municipalities. 

Healthcare services can also be carried out by private healthcare providers, but only on the basis of a licence or a decision regarding entry into a register of private healthcare workers issued by the Ministry of Health. Private healthcare providers can be given a concession at the primary or secondary level, but such a concession is only granted if a public healthcare institute cannot provide sufficient access to healthcare services. At the primary level, it is granted by the municipality with the consent of the Ministry of Health, and at the secondary level it is granted by the Ministry of Health.

Three levels of healthcare

Healthcare consists of the primary, secondary, and tertiary level. The primary level encompasses primary healthcare centres and pharmacies, the secondary level encompasses specialist ambulatory outpatient and hospital inpatient care, and the tertiary level encompasses activities at clinics, clinical institutes, or clinical departments and other authorised healthcare institutions.

Pursuant to the Resolution on the National Healthcare Plan 2016–2025 ‘Together for a Healthy Society’, we will plan the public healthcare services network, healthcare programmes, and services in accordance with the needs of the population and the capability of the current healthcare system. The planning of the network will be based on the principle of increasing accessibility to high-quality and safe healthcare services.