by InTrieste
Friuli Venezia Giulia has continued to strengthen the performance of its regional health care system, according to a new report by University of Rome Tor Vergata that evaluates Italy’s regional health services.
The study, the 14th edition of the annual regional performance assessment, places Friuli Venezia Giulia among the country’s top-performing health systems and identifies it as one of the regions that has recorded the most significant improvement since 2019.
Regional President Massimiliano Fedriga said the results reflect nearly eight years of sustained reform, despite the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic represented a kind of black hole in our development path,” Fedriga said, adding that demographic changes and evolving health care needs require continued investment but that the regional system is “moving in the right direction.”
Fedriga noted that the region has consistently ranked among Italy’s strongest performers throughout his two terms in office. He said the next challenge would be improving public awareness of the progress made, arguing that improvements are often less visible in regions that already perform at a high level.
The report uses an index ranging from 0 to 1, with 1 representing the highest level of performance. According to Regional Health Councilor Riccardo Riccardi, Friuli Venezia Giulia’s overall score has risen steadily over the past several years.
The regional health service recorded a performance index of 0.35 in 2017, increasing to 0.50 in 2022, shortly after the pandemic, and reaching 0.55 in the latest assessment.
Riccardi said improving a health system employing nearly 21,000 people while serving the region’s entire population required years of structural reform. He added that previous evaluations by Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies and the latest report from the University of Rome Tor Vergata both recognized the progress achieved.
The report also evaluates performance from the perspective of different stakeholder groups. It assigns scores of 0.50 for patients, 0.53 for institutions, 0.58 for health care professionals, 0.59 for health care management and 0.57 for industry.
Among the report’s strengths for Friuli Venezia Giulia are the development of community health centers, increased public health spending per capita, mental health indicators, childhood and elderly vaccination rates, participation in screening programs, and expanded home care services for older adults.
Riccardi said the positive assessment of integrated home care confirms the region’s strategy of shifting more health services from hospitals to community-based care. He also pointed to the ongoing rollout of community hospitals and community health centers as central elements of that approach.
The report identifies one notable weakness: the proportion of breast, prostate and lung cancer surgeries performed in hospitals handling sufficient case volumes. Riccardi said the issue is being addressed through the regional oncology network introduced in 2025, which aims to concentrate specialized procedures in high-volume centers to improve outcomes.
He also questioned the report’s negative assessment of the use of Italy’s Electronic Health Record system, arguing that Friuli Venezia Giulia was among the country’s early adopters and has already implemented the latest version of the platform.
Looking ahead, Riccardi said investments in reducing waiting lists and expanding community care should improve several performance indicators in future evaluations.
While welcoming the report’s findings, he emphasized that challenges remain.
“Health care is always a work in progress,” Riccardi said, citing demographic shifts, population aging and changing social needs. He argued that greater communication with citizens and stronger public engagement will be essential to meeting the demands of an increasingly long-lived society.
