Temas tratados 2nd international seminar Health and Sustainability

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Gesaworld Group organizes the second international debate on Health and Sustainability

International leaders meeting in Boston commit to innovation as a response to the challenges faced

by the health sector

Under the slogan “The value of innovation in the health sector”, the Spanish consulting firm Gesaworld Group brought together clinical professionals, political representatives of the governments of several countries, managers and ‘decision-makers’ from the sector to discuss the sustainability of health systems. Those taking part in the meeting included distinguished international experts such as Judy Ann Bigby, the Secretary of Health Services of the State of Massachusetts; Januário Montone, Municipal Secretary for Health of the City of São Paulo; Szabolcs Dorotovics, the Managing Director for Europe of Johns Hopkins Medicine International; José Carlos de Souza Abrahao, President of the National Health Confederation of Brazil; Susan Windham-Bannister, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center; Robin Cisneros, National Director of Medical Technology Assessment & Products, Kaiser Permanente, U.S, and Carlos A. Ariza, of Baptist Health South Florida.

The act was also attended by prestigious Spanish experts including Josep Baselga, Associate Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, who gave the keynote address “The value of innovation in the healthcare system: oncology as a case study”; Josep Maria Piqué, General Director of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Montserrat Vendrell, CEO of BIOCAT; Laura Sampietro-Colom, Deputy Director of Innovation at the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Professor Pedro Nueno of IESE Business School and Joan Guanyabens, Director of the Assessment Agency of the Department of Health of the Catalan Autonomous Government.

Integration and cooperation between institutions and healthcare levels, the evaluation of results, the intensive use of information and communication technologies as a lever for change, information systems, telemedicine and changes in the method of payment to a results-based system were some of the proposals put forward by the experts.

Boston, 26 April 2012.- In the midst of the international debate on sustainability and health system reforms, the consulting company Gesaworld Group organized the second seminar on Health and Sustainability. Under the slogan “The value of innovation in health”, the participants at the meeting included political representatives from the governments of several countries as well as clinical professionals, managers and decision-makers from the health sector, who debated and exchanged ideas on innovation as a means of guaranteeing the sustainability of health systems, from the point of view of healthcare practice, management and public policies. The Harvard Faculty Club in Boston was the venue chosen for this meeting, which was held in the US city from 18th to 19th April.



As Roser Vicente, the General Director of the Gesaworld Group stated during the inauguration, the seminar on Health and Sustainability “seeks to promote a consensus in three key aspects: the basic elements in the evaluation of clinical practices and their role in promoting innovation in medical healthcare processes, innovation and its relation to the management of health institutions, and the strategies to promote ongoing improvements in technology, processes and healthcare models”. Some of the aspects that were discussed during the seminar are outlined below: Defining the value of technologies and innovation in health

–Personalized medicine opens the door to predictive and preventive healthcare which will change the traditional parameters of access, delivery and price. This new concept of medicine places us within the paradigm of health maintenance as opposed to treatment. We are moving from an illness-based system to a more personalized, predictive and preventive focus. –Innovation holds different meanings for the various stakeholders in the process (regulators, governments, financiers, suppliers, patients, industry…) who have differing objectives and incentives (efficiency/safety, access, profitability, quality, cost control, patient satisfaction …).

Building bridges between researchers, clinical professionals and regulators. –The health sector cannot develop without the important value of scientific, technological and organizational innovation. –Innovation implies investment and it is for this reason that prior information is required in order to make decisions and to assess results in both economic and health terms. –It is clear that there is a need to incorporate other dimensions into the evaluation process such as costs, the preferences of patients, the time impact (short term/long term) of health benefits and social values (for example, in terms of chronicity or palliative care). –During the initial scientific research it is essential to ensure greater dialogue between basic researchers and the clinical professionals in charge of patient care. –Likewise the relationship with regulators and financiers is also an essential aspect as the introduction of innovative products into the market will depend on them.

The need for strong and integrated primary healthcare

–There were presentations of different successful cases that show primary healthcare as the healthcare level that provides the best results in terms of capacity to solve problems and the cost of the processes. –We find an example that puts this principle in context in the United States, where there are consolidated experiences of integration, such as those of Kaiser Permanente and the John Hopkins Institute (entities which participated in the meeting) while ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) have been promoted of late.



–The Catalan experience also provides positive results with regard to the integration and development of a robust primary healthcare system.

Healthcare payment systems as drivers of efficiency

–Importance of financing methods in terms of strengthening the transformation of the system, moving from a payment for service system to a one of payment by results.

–Payment-by-results systems also introduce incentives that facilitate the integration of different healthcare structures. Sharing risks among the different actors that participate in the healthcare process is seen as one of the lines to be strengthened.

The intensive use of ITCs, a major lever of change

–Information Technologies have led to a true revolution in the way that services are accessed and provided.

– Their impact can be seen in the reduction in the costs for providing care, in improvements to healthcare conditions, as well as in health maintenance and the prevention of illnesses.

–Electronic Medical Records, as an instrument that reinforces the integration and continuity of the care, have to provide information for the monitoring of long-term chronic illnesses, especially if the patient requires care at different levels and in different institutions.

The challenges of public policies The participants at the seminar also included eminent political decision-makers from three health systems (Catalonia, Massachusetts and São Paulo). They emphasized common problems and challenges during their interventions, and these included the following:

–The universal coverage of health services and the challenge of their sustainability. –The introduction of innovations into the management of institutions providing healthcare.

–The role of ITCs as elements to improve quality, accessibility and coverage.

–Public-private collaboration in the financing and management of health services

The participants at the seminar on Health and Sustainability, which had the support of the Delegation of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia in the United States, included distinguished representatives from companies and institutions related to the health sector including Josep Baselga, Associate Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center; Josep Maria Piqué, Director General of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Montserrat Vendrell, CEO of BIOCAT; Laura Sampietro-Colom, Deputy Director of Innovation at the



Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Professor Pedro Nueno of IESE Business School and Joan Guanyabens, Director of the Assessment Agency of the Department of Health of the Autonomous Government of Catalonia.

Those taking part in the meeting also included renowned international experts such as Judy Ann Bigby, Secretary for Human and Health Services of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Januário Montone, Municipal Secretary for Health of the City of São Paulo; Szabolcs Dorotovics, Managing Director for Europe of Johns Hopkins Medicine International; José Carlos de Souza Abrahao, President of the National Health Confederation of Brazil; Susan Windham-Bannister, President and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Robin Cisneros, National Director of Technology Assessment & Products, Kaiser Permanente, U.S, and Carlos A. Ariza, of Baptist Health South Florida.

Gesaworld Group has organized this seminar for the second consecutive year following the success of the first edition, which was held in Washington in March 2011. Last year's meeting brought together a large section of political and business people from the sector, as well as those in charge of multilateral organizations for the purpose of discussing sustainable development within the health and social sector. About Gesaworld Group Gesaworld Group is an international consultancy company that specializes in advice and project management to improve the Health and Social sector. The company was established in Barcelona 12 years ago in order to bring knowledge to wherever it might be useful. From the outset, the vocation of the Gesaworld Group has been to help improve the lives of people on the basis of know-how, and by providing advice within the area of health and social development. The company has an international network in Europe and America, with permanent headquarters in Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Nicaragua, Portugal, Chile and USA, and it has accumulated experience from more than 200 projects for 90 customers in 20 different countries. The management and consulting team of Gesaworld Group includes a multitude of professional profiles with wide local and international experience. www.healthandsustainability.info/ - www.gesaworld.com

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Temas tratados 2nd international seminar Health and Sustainability