Lausanne program gathers leaders to discuss technology and other innovations impacting health care

Health care leaders from across Europe assembled in Switzerland for “Mastering the New Challenges of Health Care,” a five-day executive education course held in May by the Institute for Health Economics and Management of University of Lausanne in conjunction with HMI. The third offering of this annual program examined the current issues facing health care institutions around the world, with the goal of equipping participants with the essential knowledge and skills necessary to navigate their own organizations through change in the wake of shifting economic, social, and political dynamics.

Returning to direct the course again this year were Miles F. Shore, MD, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and senior consultant and director at HMI, and Alberto Holly, PhD,  professor of economics and director of the Institute of Health Economics and Management at the University of Lausanne. Additional program faculty from Harvard University, the University of Lausanne, and other top academic institutions in Europe spoke on a variety of topics, including the impact of health insurance on demand for health care services, the economics and politics of international pharmaceutical markets, and demographic and epidemiologic tools for projecting the future demands for care.

The program’s participants hailed from health care organizations in countries throughout Europe, including Spain, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Romania, and Portugal, and represented a wide range of backgrounds and leadership positions in both the public and private sectors. Encouraging interaction and collaboration among participants and the opportunity to share experiences and knowledge with others, the program featured daily study groups that allowed participants to meet in small groups to construct strategies for an ideal health care system. On the final day of the course the groups shared their ideas with one another.  

Peter Pazinty, a participant from the Health Policy Institute in Slovakia, described his organization’s current engagement in reforming the nation’s Soviet-era health care system. Pazinty talked about how his group is encouraging providers, patients, and health insurance companies to accept greater responsibility for the quality of health care. The interactive environment provided an opportunity for Pazinty and others to gather knowledge and receive feedback on a plan as it is being put into action. Shore said, “It was exciting to see this real-time effect on a health care system undergoing radical change.”

Participants hailed from health care organizations in countries throughout Europe, including Spain, the United Kingdom, Slovakia, Romania, and Portugal.

Globally, the strategic implementation of information technology in health care continues to command attention, and accordingly, the course featured this topic prominently in both lectures and group discussion. Shore said participants’ responses were especially strong to a two-part session titled “The Future of Health Care IT,” led by John D. Halamka, MD, MS, chief information officer and associate dean for educational technology at Harvard Medical School.  Halamka discussed efforts to introduce web-based tools that connect patients and providers in the U.S., while helping to enhance quality and reduce error, provide patients with better access to information, and minimize administrative costs for health care organizations. The discussions specifically examined the use of electronic health records, including ePrescribing, and the use of personal health records and web visits.  Halamka, said Shore, “is on the leading edge of the developments in this technology as it applies to health care.” He added that participants were impressed with Halamka’s demonstrations of these new technologies and said they hoped to see implementation of similar systems in Europe.

Shore, who led sessions on strategic decision-making and leading change, said the response from participants was “overwhelmingly positive and very enthusiastic,” and said they found the course discussions invigorating and extremely relevant, with a strong consensus to recommend the course to their colleagues in the future. Plans are already under way to deliver the course in 2007.

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