Governança em parcerias público-privadas: limites e desafios da gestão de riscos da Secretaria de Saúde do Estado da Bahia.

Abstract

In the exercise of their functions, governments face a variety of risks. The capacity of an organization's institutional governance arrangements to operate in the complex and dynamic scenario of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) reverberates directly on the conditions under which risk management will take place. Therefore, it is essential to integrate them into the management processes of PPP contracts in order to qualify the decision-making process of public managers. Thus, this study, by analyzing the limits and challenges of risk management in the Bahia State Department of Health (SESAB) based on the institutional governance arrangements implemented in public-private partnerships in health, intended to fill the gap signaled by Souza et al (2020) of empirical studies that can deepen on the institutionalization of risk management in public organizations, as well as Andrade (2019) notes the need for more studies on risk sharing in PPPs, given the complexity of the model, and the analysis should go beyond the list of risks integral to the contracts. Based on the themes of governance, risk management, and PPPs, this exploratory, descriptive, and applied research used a qualitative approach and thematic categorical content analysis with reference to the principles of the risk management model of The Orange Book of the United Kingdom (2020). To build the corpus of analysis, the following data collection tools were used: questionnaire, semi-structured interview and documents linked to the execution of health PPP contracts (PPP of Hospital do Subúrbio, PPP of Imagem and PPP of ICOM). The findings of this study ratify the assumption of this research that the risk management of the SESAB is embryonic, hindering the consolidation of governance and failing to provide the reduction of uncertainties related to PPP contracts, as well as the increase of the capacity to implement public policy through Public-Private Partnership. This research has the limitation of analyzing risk management from the perspective of one of the parties involved in health PPPs (Grantor - SESAB), not including the perspectives of the other actors in the contractual relationship (Concessionaire) and the Independent Verifier, for example, which would probably broaden the perception and the debate about risk management in PPPs. It is hoped that this research can shed light on the limits and challenges of risk management exercised by the public administration in PPPs collaborating to remove it from invisibility, so that solutions can be built and instituted in the search for efficient results in the provision of public services to society.