WHCC in Berlin: A glimpse into the future

The World Healthcare Congress, held March 10 – 13 in Berlin, always provides interesting insights on the ways governments, clinicians, and healthcare providers perceive healthcare delivery. In the same congress last year, held in Barcelona, two themes dominated the presentations and networking discussions.

The first was the concept of an electronic patient healthcare record – whether it was ethical, how it might be perceived by patients and clinicians, and how such a record might impinge upon such issues as cross-border healthcare provision within Europe. The second theme was chronic disease and how poorly healthcare providers deal with the handful of chronic diseases that account for more than 70% of all healthcare resources.

This year’s congress showed how far healthcare or at least the attitudes of the upper echelons of healthcare decision-makers progressed in a single year. Last year focussed on the concept and ethics of an electronic record; this year, the need for such a record was a given and instead, emphasis was on how best to implement such records and the integration of primary and secondary healthcare by using records to coordinate provision. Many countries are attempting to implement these records and the main issue they face is how to integrate all the existing data sources without undue changes in healthcare practice. The exhibition area of the congress abounded with systems aimed at capturing information, electronic diagnostic maps for patient care, and monitoring healthcare provision by use of guidelines and electronic record keeping. Ethics, apparently, have gone by the board.

Chronic disease management has undergone a similar transformation. Last year we were being alerted to the impact this had on healthcare; this year we were treated to advice and experiences in long term disease management systems, virtual wards for patients at risk, and systems to prevent chronic disease development. The shock of it all has evidently worn off; it seems now governments are knuckling down to deal with chronic diseases by as many new and innovative programs as they can devise. This year systems for prevention are in their infancy – what’s the bet that next year we will be assessing the impact of preventative programmes?

WHC and ISMMP congresses

By David Woods (dwoods@rxcomms.com)

HOC editor David Woods has just returned from attending two healthcare congresses. A full report of both can be found on the Rx website at www.rxcomms.com; here is just a taster.

Fourth Annual World Health Care Congress (WHC), Washington, DC, 22–24 April

A panel on competition, moderated by John Iglehart, the founding editor of Health Affairs, included Michael Porter, a Harvard professor and a leading authority on competitive strategy, who said that 21st-century medicine is being delivered with 19th-century organisation and management.

What’s called for, he said, is a fundamental restructuring of health systems rather than incremental improvement, and an emphasis on value and on health outcomes per dollar spent. True competition must be based on measurable results, not process, he said; and while information technology is an enabler, it’s not a solution. Restructuring must come from the bottom up and physicians have to ‘get out of the bunker’ to lead the change…

See the news page on www.rxcomms.com for David’s full report.

International Society for Healthcare Publication Professionals (ISMPP), Third annual meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 23–25 April

“Ensuring integrity in medical publications: conflicts, credibility and collaboration” was the conference theme, and the highlight was a panel discussion that featured all three of those in a sometimes heated but always engaging debate on conflict of interest.

Faith McLellan, North American senior editor of The Lancet, pointed out several examples of scientific fraud, including one perpetrated by a scientist who made up data on 960 patients – but gave them all the same date of birth. The lessons learned about conflict of interest, she said, are: slow down, develop more rigorous peer review and get a better handle on who the authors are and what they actually did…

See the news page on www.rxcomms.com for more.

4th Annual World Health Care Congress

As we noted in our March issue, HOC will be attending and reporting on the 4th Annual World Health Care Congress held on 22–24 April in Washington, DC, USA.

The Congress is billed as “the must-attend event for healthcare, government and corporate leaders to formulate solutions to the escalating challenges of healthcare cost, quality, and delivery.”

Watch for our synopsis in the May issue. Also in that issue, we’ll be covering the 3rd annual meeting of the International Society for Medical Publishing Professionals, which will be held in Philadelphia on 24–25 April, and whose theme is “Ensuring integrity in medical publications: conflicts, credibility, and collaboration.”

4th Annual World Health Care Congress

HOC will be attending and reporting on the 4th Annual World Health Care Congress, 22–24 April. Billed as “the must-attend event for healthcare, government and corporate leaders to formulate solutions to the escalating challenges of healthcare cost, quality, and delivery,” the congress features a stellar array of topics and speakers.

The 27 keynote speakers include: Paul Steiger, Managing editor, The Wall Street Journal; Carolyn Clancy, MD, Director, Agency for Health Care Research and Quality; Peter Neupert, Corporate Vice President for Health Strategy, Microsoft Corp; Adam Bosworth, Vice President, Google, Inc; Ronald Williams, President and CEO, Aetna, Inc; Uwe Reinhardt, health policy expert, Professor of political economy, Princeton University; and Andrew Von Eschenbach, Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration.

Among the scores of topics under discussion are:

• Public reporting of quality and cost of care
• The business mandate for chronic care interventions
• Globalisation: the impact on healthcare systems
• Global best practices in pay-for-performance – insights from the UK’s physician incentive system
• Measurement of health status for improved productivity.