Estratégias de operações de empresas de saúde suplementar de grande porte no Brasil: um estudo multicaso

Abstract

This paper seeks to identify and analyze the operating strategies of the 5 largest healthcare plan companies in the private healthcare sector in Brazil, from 2011 to 2019. The purpose of the research was to identify the contents of the healthcare strategy operations of the analyzed cases, composed of competitive production priorities and changes in structural and infrastructural decision areas. The alignments of these operations strategies with the respective declared competitive strategies were also evaluated. Initially, it was found that there are few works on the referred sector in which the operation strategies of companies that make up Supplementary Health are analyzed. Supplementary health serves 24% of the population and concentrates the largest volume of annual investments in health in Brazil. An analysis of secondary data, obtained from the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS) database, of financial and sustainability statements reports released by the institutions, allowed a description of the economic and market scenario in which health services companies are inserted and the identification of the competitive and operational strategies of the 5 companies studied, noting that the alignments of these strategies had a direct relationship with the performances obtained in the period of analysis. The company that did not properly align its operations strategy with the competitive strategy faced financial difficulties, suffered intervention from the ANS and suffered from the risk of leaving the market. The company that changed its competitive strategy but did not adequately break it down into its operations strategy, presented an unsatisfactory financial performance and is evaluating a new position in the market. Companies with consolidated operations strategies and which demonstrated alignment with competitive strategies, showed greater financial stability and controlled claims fluctuations. The scenario analyzed between 2000 and 2019 was that of a stable market, with no interference from adverse events and prior to the Covid-19 pandemic period.