The reform of hospital optimization in Slovakia (hereinafter referred to as "OSN") aims to improve the quality and efficiency of inpatient health care by defining a typology of inpatient health care provision, as well as defining minimum conditions for the provision of medical services. Setting the right typology of provision will also improve the patient's journey in each region, as an important principle is to maintain the most essential care as close to the patient as possible. The UN also guarantees that the patient receives specific procedures in specific hospitals, which defines the patient's very journey in inpatient healthcare.

The process of categorization of inpatient health care is used to define these conditions, in which the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic, in cooperation with experts, health insurance companies, hospital associations, the Office of Health Care Services, as well as patient organizations, sets individual medical, personnel, material and technical and other requirements for the provision of inpatient health care.

Based on the fulfilment of the defined conditions, hospitals are included in a hospital network, which has five levels of hospitals and is made up of both general and specialised hospitals, depending on their programme profile.