UEHP  
  October 23rd 2017  
 
UEHP FACTBOOK !
Meeting point at the EU Parliament on Tuesday 7th of November for its official presentation!
Tuesday 7th of November! UEHP invites you to the European Parliament for the presentation of the Factbook "Private Hospitals in Europe: Supporting Sustainable Health Systems".
We thank Françoise Grossetête, MEP supporting the meeting and facilitating an open discussion on the future of health care systems. The major debate will be on hospital performance, offering access to timely high-quality services to all EU Citizens.
Private providers are partners of change, essential to achieve the major challenge of efficient services in a modern Europe. Please join us for this major event!
Don’t forget to register before Monday 30. October: Registration.
Dr Paul Garassus
President of UEHP
 
       
 
LATEST NEWS
UEHP
Council Meeting – Belgrade Friday, 27th October 2017
UEHP members will meet in Belgrade (Serbia) on Friday, 27th October 2017 for the UEHP Council meeting, kindly hosted by the Serbian Association of Private Hospitals.
During the meeting, in addition to updates on UEHP activities and presentation from international speakers, we will officially launch our UEHP Factbook with a presentation from the author, Mr Hans Mertens, who wrote the book in close cooperation with UEHP and its member states.
 
UEHP
meets OECD in Paris
Private hospitals discovering the latest innovations in healthcare
Last 28 September, UEHP had the pleasure to meet Ms Francesca Colombo, Head of the Health Division, Directory for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs at OECD in Paris.
From l. to r. Jonathan Graf - German Association of Private Hospitals, Jens Wernick - German Association of Private Hospitals, Oscar Gaspar - Portuguese Association of Private Hospitals, Agnès Couffinhal - OECD, Dr Paul Garassus, President UEHP, Francesca Colombo - Head of the Health Division OECD, Ilaria Giannico, UEHP Secretary General, Cristina Contel – President Spanish Association of Private Hospitals.
UEHP was represented by a small delegation composed by the President, Dr Garassus, the SG, Ms Giannico, the two Vice Presidents, Ms Contel and Mr Wernick, the President of the Portuguese Association of Private Hospitals, Mr Gaspar, and Mr Graf, from the German Association of Private Hospitals – BDPK.
The UEHP delegation was received by Ms Francesca Colombo and her team at the headquarters of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris http://www.oecd.org/
After a “tour de table”, Ms Colombo introduced the participants to the work of OECD in the healthcare sector. Being an intergovernamental organisation, Ms Colombo stressed that OECD’s work reflects the priorities of each Member State.
Their work on health has seen an evolution over the past years, from being only a source of statistics to assuming a more important role on elaboration of policies and analysis for Member States and Institutions. In particular, the present work of OECD on health focuses on a set of main issues which entail the major challenges of the future, such as:
  • Improving the organisation of NHS;
  • Making NHS more patient centred, delivering what it really matters to people;
  • Modernisation of NHS;
  • Coordination of actors in the continuum of healthacre services (ex. the changing role of the hospital);
  • Making health more inclusive (reducing inequalities);
  • Enhance quality and improving the measurement of outcomes.
After that, Dr Garassus presented the European Union of Private Hospitals, our role as partner of change in a new, modern and evolving healthcare sector. In particular, Dr Garassus put the stress on efficiency, sustainability, hospital performance, quality standards and the model of the hospital of the future (the so called “smart hospital”, always connected to an informed patient).
After the UEHP President, all other attendees had the chance to speak, to give to OECD their national publications/studies, to present their concerns about NHS in their own country, as well as congratulating OECD for their huge work on statistics and studies (which also constitute the basis of the analysis in the UEHP Factbook).
All attendees from UEHP then agreed on one major question to be asked to OECD: why, when doing statistics, OECD does not make any distinction between private and public providers? We, as private sector, have a voice, we represent a consistent part of the national healthcare systems, but it seems they do not take us in account.
Ms Colombo acknowledged this remark and replied that their work depends on the national statistics they receive from Member States, therefore if the national statics do not provide the distinction between public and private they cannot do much on this.
Ms Colombo then thanked the UEHP delegation for this remark and promised that for the future they will pay more attention on this issue and they will keep an eye on the distinction public – private to explore if some member States have separate statistics or not.
An open and interesting discussion followed, between the OECD team and the UEHP delegation, on a wide set of topics.
In conclusion, OECD encouraged UEHP and the National associations to send them data, publications, studies, in order to have the widest and more comprehensive information possible.
Ms Colombo congratulated UEHP for its Factbook, which will be officially presented at the European Parliament in Brussels, next November, 7.
 
UEHP
celebrates the 55-years activity of Casa di Cura Città di Parma (Italy)
UEHP President, Dr Garassus, and Secretary General, Ms Giannico, were invited to take part to the congress “The role of private hospitals in the healthcare of the future: from the European level to the regional one”, held last September, 29 in Parma (Italy).
The congress was organised by the private hospital Casa di Cura Città di Parma, one of the leading hospitals in the city, on the occasion of the celebration of 55 years of activity of the hospital. The congress was an opportunity to meet and hear from all the people that contributed to the growth of the hospital over the years (doctors, managers, nurses, paramedical staff, etc.); moreover, the congress aimed at stimulating a debate on the importance of the private hospitals in Europe and on the perspectives and challenges ahead in the healthcare sector.
UEHP President, Dr Paul Garassus, was invited to speak about the role of private hospitals in the future healthcare. His speech highlighted the main elements which will have a strong impact on our future, as providers of care, that is:
  • Regulation and role of the “regulatory states”;
  • Our economies, crisis and growth;
  • Innovation, both diagnostic and therapeutic;
  • The unpredictable (new technologies, their impact in healthcare, what kind of changes and when?).
In the conclusions of his speech Dr Garassus reminded everybody on the role of UEHP in Brussels, a partner of change, a source of information and exchange of good practises to make the most out of our NHS.
 
UEHP
speaker at the Romanian Hospital Convention and the Bucharest Healthcare Debate
UEHP was invited as guest speaker during two major events in the Romanian healthcare sector, the Romanian Hospital Convention - ROHO 2017 and the Bucharest Healthcare Debate – BHD 2017, held in Bucharest on 5-6 October.
UEHP Secretary General, Ms Giannico, spoke about The High Quality Standards in Private Hospital Management, in ROHO 2017 and about European Private Hospitals, recent challenges and perspectives, in BHD 2017.
The two international events were dedicated to recent challenges and perspectives of the European healthcare systems, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe.
The main topics discussed during the two days of conferences were:
  • Recent challenges and perspectives of the European healthcare systems;
  • The role of the physician and of his profession;
  • The high quality healthcare services;
  • Patient access to the latest treatment options and medical innovations;
  • Public – Private relation in healthcare.
The two events saw the participation of more than 200 guests, coming from all over Europe, that is healthcare leaders (public and private), leaders of the main medical organisations, associations and societies, leaders of the Romanian main medical specialities and medical education institutions, managers and medical directors of hospitals, partners’ representatives, companies.
Ms Giannico put a stress on the importance of the private sector in Europe, an alternative which has become essential for the functioning of our NHS.
ROHO 2017: agenda
Bucharest Healthcare Debate – BHD 2017: https://spatiulmedical.ro/bhd/
 
UEHP supporting partner of
eHealth week – Tallinn – 17-18 October 2017
The overarching theme of the eHealth Week 2017 was 'Health in the Digital Society. Digital Society for Health'. The conference addressed how digital technologies and the wider use of health data are changing our lives and the ways health care is delivered.
 
       
 
BEST PRACTICES
AUSTRIA
Visions Award 2017
Wiener Privatklinik, Vienna
As regard to the increasing number of multicultural patients, it is a necessity to provide health care professionals and patients with a tool that enables an adequate level of communication. Communication between patients, staff, doctors is a prerequisite to ensure a safe and professional delivery of care.
Wiener Privatklinik located in the center of Vienna introduced a video interpreting system, which allows people with poor or no German knowledge to speak and to understand, encouraging then this population group not to postpone medical care.
This system aims to provide more security, also of a legal nature, for patients and health care professionals and brings more fluidity in the organisational process for staff and families. ‟With this userfriendly system, available 24 hours a day, we have been able to adapt our processes and increase the quality of care delivery in our clinic”, explains Sandra Sailer, Station Manager at Wiener Privatklinik!
Each year, the Austrian Federation Private Clinics rewards Future-oriented innovations in private clinics. This year, the project „ Introduction of a video interpreting system – I understand you – You understand me" has seduced the jury and has been rewarded with the 3rd Price.
www.wpk.at
Article written in cooperation with the Austrian Federation Private Clinics - privatkrankenanstalten.at
GERMANY
Doctors and nurses rehearse for emergency situations
Helios Clinics, Erfurt, Krefeld and Hildesheim
Over 3.000 physicians and nurses have been trained to face emergency situations in one of the three Helios simulation centres since the beginning of 2016. During those training sessions, doctors and health care professionals coming from anaesthesiology, gastroenterology, emergency and intensive care are practising surgical techniques and emergency gestures on puppets and with computer simulation programmes.
The training sessions are recorded and then evaluated with the team of professional trainers and nursing staff. The ‟trainee” can then visualise and improve its communication skills and individual responses to crisis situations" says Helios Simulation Training Coordinator, Dr. Mark Weinert. "Our medical staff is perfectly prepared to face emergencies, which makes the delivery of care safer. A win-win situation for staff and patients. Besides, international studies have shown that patient care is improved by simulation sessions."
A training session per year is compulsory for anaesthesiologists, nurse anesthetists and intensive care unit staff. Helios is going to extend its simulation programmes to primary care of newborns for gynecologists and anaesthesiologists and from 2018, the group will also provide simulations on emergencies that may occur during a childbirth.
Helios also plans to open its simulation centres to hospitals outside the Helios group in a near future. At present, Helios carries out most of simulation training courses for health care professionals in Germany.
Article written in cooperation with German Federation Private Clinics - bdpk.de
PORTUGAL
Monsanto Hospital, Amadora
Monsanto private Hospital located in the suburb of Lisbon, scheduled to be opened by the end of 2017, represents the most important private investment in the field of mental health in the last 40 years in Portugal, with five million euros for a capacity of 126 beds. It will focus on the treatment of mental illnesses and degenerative and geriatric disorders.
"It responds to the increasing demand at national level and in the area of Lisbon, but also the demand generated by health tourism, for a modern hospital, organized according to the best international practices and with the capacity to respond to the current challenges of mental health", explains Dr. Carlos Alcântara, administrator of Clínica Senhor da Serra, a mental health clinic with 50 years of experience and promoter of this new project.
UEHP wish Monsanto Hospital all the best for its opening !
 
 
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