Interview with Dr Emmanuel Capitaine, International Medical Coordinator, Vivalto Santé
The French private hospital group Vivalto Santé has been expanding internationally since 2022, with the purchase of 47 clinics in 5 European countries (Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia). It is now one of the private healthcare groups shaping private hospitalisation in Europe and helping to develop quality and access to care for all.
Since its creation, Vivalto Santé has adopted an original model, the so-called ‘Third Way’, which includes shared governance. A solution that can be transposed to Europe?
Vivalto Santé is a benchmark in France for its distinctive model of shared governance, which combines the voices of practitioners, wo are the group’s shareholders, with those of managers. The strong involvement of Doctors through shared governance encourages the emergence of ambitious medical projects and helps to strike the right medico-economic balance in each project, to the benefit of the quality of care and the service provided to patients. Vivalto Santé was also the first ‘company with a mission’ in its sector, a French model for companies that set themselves social and environmental objectives as part of their business.
At European level, the Vivalto Santé model made the decision to choose our group as the buyer much easier. All the doctors in our clinics in France are committed to this ‘open’ management model and the possibility of share ownership, which gives them all the latitude they need to do their jobs in the best possible conditions. We don’t want to impose our shareholding model on our 3,400 doctors in Europe, but rather propose it, adapting it to the culture and specific features of each country. The response has been positive, and most of them see it as an opportunity to become even more involved and to develop ambitious medical projects.
What have you done to link up the medical communities in the different countries?
From the outset, we have built bridges between the medical communities, by setting up bodies bringing together the medical directors of all the countries, and research and innovation committees, to encourage organic growth and the sharing of best practice, based on the principle of ‘cross-fertilisation’. Our approach is one of co-construction, with a common roadmap that should serve each country as well as possible, according to its specific characteristics.
What advantages do you derive from your European dimension?
The size of the Vivalto Santé group and its international presence broaden the scope of what is possible. Each country must be able to take advantage of the best practices in other countries and adopt the best practices. We’re relying heavily on the principle of peer support and mutual assistance between doctors to develop the conditions of practice.
On the digital front, for example, high-performance remote monitoring solutions are currently being rolled out in France. Implementing this type of tool is a challenge in many ways. The main task is to adapt organisations to incorporate innovation into day-to-day practices. The teams in France now have the expertise to make a success of these key stages. Teams in Portugal who also want to integrate these innovative tools will have a much faster learning curve, building on the experience of their counterparts. It’s important to understand that it’s our differences that nurture each other.
The idea is not to impose the French model on other countries, but rather to take the best wherever possible and deploy it in other entities. For example, Lusiadas Saude has set up a project to increase breast cancer screening rates. The French teams are already taking inspiration from this.
In addition, joint accreditation programmes are underway, particularly in oncology, and will serve as a basis for the other centres. Another example concerns robotic surgery in France, which is of interest to the other teams, who will in turn be able to receive training.
Our European dimension will also enable us to increase our capacity to carry out grouped clinical research projects and facilitate access to medical innovation and innovative therapies. Clinical research and innovation are undeniably attractive factors in attracting and retaining healthcare professionals.
Overall, Vivalto Santé has reached critical mass, which will enable it to implement ambitious policies in terms of organisation, purchasing policy, data collection and recovery, and investment to support development policies in the various countries…
The group’s management wants to transfer what works well in one country to others, in particular the agility, the good alignment between administrative functions and doctors, the close proximity of management to the field and the strong decision-making capacity of the various players.
The European positioning of the Vivalto Santé group means that it can now work towards a European model of care, drawing on the best practices of different healthcare systems, respecting common and shared rules and using its resources rationally and productively, with the aim of constantly improving the quality and safety of care, for the benefit of all and in a sustainable way.
Read the Interview in French
