商业。

　　Italian payment practices.

　　意大利的支付习惯。

　　Unhealthy delays.

　　有害的延误。

　　Late payments are an Italian speciality-particularly in health care.

　　延迟支付是意大利的特色——尤其在医药保健领域。

　　IN MEDICINE speed is of the essence. If the ambulance arrives a minute late, the patient may be dead. Italian paramedics are no doubt as swift as those in other countries. But Italy's health-care authorities are shamefully slow when it comes to paying suppliers-making it difficult for them to survive.

　　在医药领域，速度就是核心。如果救护车晚到一分钟，病人就可能死亡了。意大利的护理人员无疑同其他国家一样行动迅速。但谈到向供应商支付时，意大利的医疗机构就慢的令人羞耻了——简直让供应商们难以生存。

　　"We're still waiting to be paid for goods sold in 2009," says Stefano Rimondi, the managing director of Bellco, a maker of equipment for dialysis with revenues of more than