Change in healthcare culture
Minister Boi Ruiz: "We must move from a reactive to a proactive focus that can anticipate disease"
By biocat
"We are tackling the challenge of sustainability and a profound transformation that will make our healthcare system more efficient. We must move from a reactive to a proactive focus that can anticipate disease," said Catalan Minister for Health Boi Ruiz this week at the MIHealth Forum 2013 at Fira Barcelona. Prevention, which has positive repercussions on the ageing population, is one of the aspects that must be included in healthcare systems to make them more viable in the long term and to help preserve the welfare state.
This is the second year that Barcelona has hosted one of the top international congresses on clinical innovation and healthcare management, which featured the reflections and success stories of more than 70 experts from around the world including Dr. Jack H. Cochran, director of the Kaiser Permanente Foundation (USA), who has participated in various healthcare reform initiatives including this organization’s electronic medical records (one of the biggest successes in the world in implementing medical informatics systems). Cochran said that "it isn’t necessary for 51% of people to want to change the system, just a few who will do it."
Other noteworthy speakers included Dr. Kip Webb, managing director of Accenture Clinical Services (USA); Dr. John Collins, CEO of CIMIT (USA) and professor in the Moebio Design Health Barcelona program —Biocat’s new talent-development initiative— and Dr. Heitham Hassoun, medical director of Johns Hopkins Medicine (USA).
The forum focused on three lines: innovation in knowledge, technology and organization. As at the previous edition, Biocat CEO Dr. Montserrat Vendrell was on the scientific committee and coordinated the track on technology focusing on the clinical value of data and how technology is revolutionizing business models in this field. One of the speakers in this track, Director of Research at Barcelona's Hospital Clínic Dr. Elias Campo, was clear in expressing that "we have to take advantage of the data that is being generated in clinical practice and in healthcare systems geared towards the genome" to be able to treat the patients of the future.
A future marked by stagnating medical expenditure, according to figures published by the OCDE. Spain is one of the few countries that have cut healthcare expenditure two years in a row (in 2011 the country invested 9.3% of the GDP and in 2010, 9.6%). The United States is the country with the highest healthcare expenditure (17.5% of the GDP), followed by the Netherlands (12% of the GDP), France and Germany (11.6% of the GDP) according to data from 2010.
Healthcare Investment Forum and Innovation Awards 2013
One of the dozen Satellite Events held these days was the latest edition of the Healthcare Barcelona Investment Forum promoted by the Barcelona Medical Association (COMB), the IESE Network of Private Investors and Family Offices, Barcelona Activa and Biocat, where ten companies sought funding from some one hundred investors.
Additionally, projects presented by Hospital La Fe (Valencia), Henares University Hospital (Madrid) and the Biodonostia Institute won awards for the innovative and transformative spirit of their healthcare professionals. One of the 30 finalists, in the category of hospital innovation, was the Design Health Barcelona program recently launched by Biocat.
The Forum closed on 28 June with good attendance, 900 professionals from the medical, healthcare-management, political and industrial arenas. At the next edition in 2014, doctors and hospital managers will continue debating how to improve healthcare systems, "in positive terms" in the words of Dr. Josep M. Piqué, chair of the scientific committee of the congress and director of Barcelona’s Hospital Clínic.
Related news (3 May 2013)