EHMA 2023 Conference Programme
DAY 1 – Monday, 5 June 2023
Ready, set, go… Welcome to #EHMA2023!
Three years of the COVID pandemic have exposed gaps and vulnerabilities in European health systems that are pushing healthcare professionals to a breaking point. As health systems manage burdens from inflation, war, and climate change, the importance of sustainable solutions for health system viability requires deeper analysis. How can health systems adapt and evolve to the changing needs of the population and environment when the path is undefined?
Sustainable solutions and strategic thinking continue to be required to drive the transformation of health systems. EHMA 2023 will provide access to high-calibre research, tools and evidence from renowned researchers, academics and professionals to navigate the extended period of instability and insecurity being experienced by our health systems. It will provides access to a community of experienced leaders delivering sustainable change for the provision of high-quality healthcare.
Speakers
- Prof Sandra Buttigieg, President, European Health Management Association (EHMA); Professor and Head of the Department of Health Services Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Malta
- Prof Axel Kaehne, Vice-President, European Health Management Association (EHMA); Professor of Health Services Research and Director Evaluation and Policy Analysis Unit (EPA) at Edge Hill University, United Kingdom
- Representative of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (to be confirmed)
- Representative of the Italian Ministry of Health (to be confirmed)
Facilitator
- Prof Americo Cicchetti, Director, ALTEMS, Italy
Get ready for the first sessions of #EHMA2023
Connect with delegates and check out the poster exhibition, while enjoying a delicious lunch
Health systems can make a powerful contribution to other sectors. They can contribute to the achievement of the so-called Sustainable Development Goals by producing better population health and co-benefits in other sectors: greening healthcare (SDG13), financial protection against poverty (SDG1), health systems promoting gender equality (SDG5), or investment in health systems for economic growth (SDG8). These are just a few examples of where health systems can contribute to sustainable development.
This plenary will provide an overview of the concepts and evidence from work on the SDGs and co-benefits and it will link to concrete examples and experiences in healthcare organisations.
Keynote speaker
- Prof Scott L. Greer, Professor at Michigan University; and Senior Expert Advisor, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, USA
Facilitator
- Dr Josep Figueras, Director at the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Belgium
Connect with delegates over an original Italian espresso
Take the opportunity to connect with speakers and delegates
Track 1 – Governance, leadership and social responsibility
Track 2 – Management, operations and practice
Track 3 – Human capital, professionalism and people management
Track 4 – Finance and economics
Track 5 – Policy and regulations
Presenters:
- The impact of the Self-Portrait’s design elements on child engagement in care, children’s emotions and cognition, and their personal development
Ms Claire Verkijk, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, Department of Health Services Management and Organisation, The Netherlands
- Patients’ perspectives on ethical principles to fairly allocate scarce surgical resources during the COVID-19 pandemic: a Q-methodology study
Anouk van Alphen, MD, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Erasmus University Medical Centre, The Netherlands - The anatomy and strategies of dual leadership governance in Finnish wellbeing services counties
Mr Jari Salomaa, Nordic Health Group, Finland
- Organisational culture and ideology in healthcare management within China. A literature review about Wuhan’s makeshift hospitals
Prof Tommaso Pellin, University of Bergamo, Italy & Dr Earle John Du Plooy, University of Verona, Italy
- A transformative quality of work environment program from the UAE: the “WAZN” program
Prof Mohamad Alameddine, University of Sharjah, UAE - Skill-mix innovations for integrated care across Europe: the example of two European-funded projects – CANCERLESS and CO-CAPTAIN
Mr Alejandro Gil-Salmerón, International Foundation for Integrated Care, Spain
- Improving the patients experience using PREMs: an optimisation model
Dr Elisa Peruzzo, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy
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Council of Europe Resolution on the implementation of pharmaceutical care: a step forward in the promotion of appropriate use of medicines and patient-centred care
Dr François-Xavier Lery, European Directorate for the Quality of Medicines and HealthCare (EDQM) – Council of Europe, France - The role of leadership in continuous improvement maturity: a literature review
Dr Oskar Roemeling, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
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Social prescribing in Lisbon: adaptations of work processes and challenges to implement a people-centred integrated care intervention
Ms Louíse Hoffmeister, NOVA National School of Public Health, Public Health Research Centre, Comprehensive Health Research Center, CHRC, NOVA University Lisbon, Portugal - Air traffic control tower as a metaphor for managing complexity in transitional care: an organizational perspective
Ms Ginevra Gravili, DEMDI, University of Bari, Italy & Ms Ludovica Florenzano, KPMG, Italy
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Can improving organisational processes, communication, and workload improve patient safety in low-income countries? A study of primary care units in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Dr Šehad Draganović, University Klagenfurt, Austria
The European Union provides and abundance of support tools when it comes to developing, testing, implementing, and financing health system reforms. These support tools are provided by different directorate generals and programmes and may follow different objectives and rules. This workshop will illustrate the use of these support tools by a concrete case study from Austria. The workshop is a follow up to last year’s plenary on the topic of support tools.
It’s aperitivo time! Enjoy drinks and conversation with healthcare leaders.
DAY 2 – Tuesday, 6 June 2023
Ready, set, go… Welcome to day 2 of #EHMA2023!
Track 1 – Governance, leadership and social responsibility
Track 2 – Management, operations and practice
Track 3 – Human capital, professionalism and people management
Track 4 – Finance and economics
Track 5 – Policy and regulations
Presenters:
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EU leadership to fight childhood cancer using Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Ms Pilar Gangas, International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), Spain -
Innovative technologies and Artificial Intelligence: economic impact and relationship medical doctor-patient
Dr Francesco Presta, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli IRCCS, Italy -
Tigullio Luogo di Salute (TLS): the reorganisation of Asl4 for proximity healthcare, digitalised and accredited to excellence
Dr Yuliya Shcherbina, Accreditation Canada, Canada - Using AI for mass screening of diabetic retinopathy as a disruptive technology implementation: Ukrainian experience for global perspectives
Dr Kyrylo Goncharuk, Ukraine Diabetic Federation, Ukraine -
A qualitative analysis of the key contextual factors for the scaling-up of the ADLIFE digital solution in the Basque Health Service
Dr Nerea González, Kronikgune-Institute for Health Services Research; Osakidetza Basque Health Service, Spain -
Artificial intelligence to support primary care
Elettra Carini, MD, Agenzia Nazionale per i Servizi Sanitari Regionali (AGENAS), Italy -
Telemedicine and management of chronic disease. Where we are and how we can improve it
Dr Fabrizio Chiusolo, Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Italy -
The impact of digitalisation on emergency department triage operations
Ms Elisa Doldi, University of Bergamo, Italy -
Development of a model of digital healthcare ecosystem based on blockchain technology
Prof Dr Marija Jevtic, Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia; Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Research centre on Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Belgium - PROCare4Life lessons learnt
Ms Pilar Gangas, International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), Spain - Search and rescue: health information and prediction systems for first responders in disasters
Ms Ana María Aldea Reyes, Escuela Española de Salvamento y Detección con Perros, Spain -
Digital innovation in healthcare: a case study
Dr Anna Roberta Gagliardi, Department of Economics, University of Foggia, Italy
Track –
Connect with delegates over an original Italian espresso
Europe and the world are witnessing a widespread digital transformation across health and care systems. Health services and processes are becoming increasingly digitalised, and new digital technologies such as medical products, devices, in vitro diagnostic tools, medical procedures, and measures for disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment become available every day. Digital technologies can make health systems more person-centred, evidence-based, responsive, resilient, and financially and environmentally sustainable, helping us to progress towards a healthier society. However, to maximise the potential of new digital technologies, health managers need to be equipped with decision-making tools that allow them to effectively understand and navigate digital transformation at a systemic level.
One such tool is Health Technology Assessment (HTA), a multidisciplinary, scientific, evidence-based process that informs decision-making by measuring the added value of new technologies at the different stages of their life cycles against the value offered by existing comparable technologies. Effective HTA serves as an evidence-based tool that can facilitate managerial processes and enhance the quality, equity, and efficiency of care delivery. HTA is also high on the EU health policy agenda: the Regulation on Health Technology Assessment (EU) will enter into force in 2025 to strengthen cooperation and coordination among EU Member States.
This plenary session will present the possibilities for using HTA to manage digital transformation in health systems. While offering examples from other solution-oriented, evidence-based managerial tools that proved successful, this session will highlight the role of HTA as an important managerial tool that can help health systems, organisations, and hospitals to make evidence-based decisions about new digital technologies.
Facilitator
- Prof Americo Cicchetti, Director, ALTEMS, Italy
Check out the posters and exchange with delegates during the lunch break
This session is offered by MSD
A great opportunity to connect with delegates and make new connections
The Joint Action on digitally enabled integrated person-centred care (JADECARE) is an EU initiative that contributes to innovative, efficient and sustainable health systems by providing expertise and sharing good practices to assist the Member States in undertaking health system reforms. It enables national authorities to benefit from solutions in digitally enabled integrated person-centred care by supporting the transfer of four good practices in the field to 21 other settings of so-called Next Adopters (NAs). A three-step strategy has been created to address this issue putting a special focus on the analysis and preparation of the local environment and contextual determinants of the NAs. Furthermore, a JADECARE Sustainability strategy has been formulated to strengthen the use of the outcomes of the new practices after the end of the Joint Action.
This workshop presents the results and impact of JADECARE that has targeted more than 4 million people at different levels: regionally, European-wide and for future health policies; and explores the key elements to support the sustainability of good practice transfer beyond the projects. Two implementing regions will showcase their particular results of the transfer and implementation of good practices. In addition, the JADECARE Sustainability strategy will be exposed to the audience and its three core elements: policy environment, ownership of sustainability and culture of collaboration and consensus seeking. Finally, during the workshop discussion among attendees will be promoted about the crucial factors necessary to promote the continuity and scale-up of the outcomes of the transfer projects.
What will you learn?
- Discover results and impact of the JADECARE Joint Action
- Learn about implementation process to transfer and implement best practices in heterogeneous contexts
- Discuss key elements to ensure the sustainability and scale up of practices beyond a Joint Action
Track 2 – Management, operations and practice
Track 3 – Human capital, professionalism and people management
Track 4 – Finance and economics
This session is offered by the EcoQUIP+ project
Storytelling is fundamental to each and every society around the world. In healthcare, stories are proving a useful tool in engaging people with quality improvement work. Telling the story of one patient’s experience of care can memorably illustrate improvements or problems in a care pathway. Statistics and data have an important place in monitoring and understanding services and facilitating improvement, but the right story can also have the power to motivate and change minds (HealthFoundation, 2016). Storytelling helps to communicate in a powerful way the lessons emerging from research and various projects. Learning how to tell better stories can improve your leadership skills, captivate an audience, and engage with your decision makers.
What will you learn?
- Become a more engaging, clear and compelling communicator.
- Entertain and make a meaningful impact on your listeners.
- Discover ‘The 3 Essential Ingredients’ for any good story.
- Making your story stick
Facilitators
- Dr Eva Turk, Senior Researcher, CDHSI – Center for Digital Health and Social Innovation (UAS St. Pölten), Austria
This session is offered by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Connect with delegates over an original Italian espresso
Track 1 – Governance, leadership and social responsibility
Track 2 – Management, operations and practice
Track 3 – Human capital, professionalism and people management
Track 4 – Finance and economics
Track 5 – Policy and regulations

Presenters:
- Evaluating time trends and determinants of obesity inequalities in the adult population: the case of England
Dr Paolo Candio, University of Trento, Italy
- Promoting patient empowerment in Atrial Fibrillation across healthcare systems: how to ensure health equity and access?
Ms Caterina Bosio, EngageMinds HUB – Consumer, Food & Health Engagement Research Center, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
- Accountability within the public healthcare system. The effect of accurate information release on the service delivery
Dr Earle John Du Plooy, University of Verona, Italy & Mr Giovanni Righetti, University of Verona, Italy
- Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Towards Uniform Measurement of Purpose-Oriented Healthcare Networks
Dr Robin Peeters, Maastricht University, The Netherlands
- Does autonomy affect multidisciplinary team performance? The mediating role of boundary spanning
Ms Roberta Laurita, Catholic University of the Sacred Hearth, Italy
- Overcrowding and boarding time in Emergency Department in Italy
Dr Daniele Bellavia, Carlo Cattaneo – LIUC University and LIUC Business School; HD LAB – Healthcare Datascience LAB – Carlo Cattaneo – LIUC University, Italy
- COVID-19 and surgical waiting times: the response strategy of a Local Health Authority
Stefano Guicciardi, MD, AUSL Bologna; University of Bologna, Italy
- Developing senior healthcare scientists as leaders and service improvers
Dr Nathan Proudlove, University of Manchester, United Kingdom
- ROSIA – a PCP for rehabilitation
Ms Patrícia Couceiro, Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, Portugal
- The Gastropack System as an effective alternative to the demand and supply model in healthcare
Stefano Guicciardi, MD, AUSL Bologna; Department of Biomedical and Neuromotor Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy - Elderly patients’ experiences of person-centred integrated care – the context of joint replacement surgery
Ms Henriikka Seittu, Aalto University; University of Eastern Finland, Finland & Dr Minna Kaarakainen, University of Eastern Finland, Finland
- Research and innovation in Personalized Medicine: a descriptive synthesis of actors in the European Union and in China
Ms Marzia Di Marcantonio, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy
- Investigating pharmaceutical governances in the current global health scenario: a systematic review
Ms Giulia Falasca, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Italy
*With ticket only
DAY 3 – Wednesday, 7 June 2023
Ready, set, go… It’s the last day of #EHMA2023!
Track 1 – Governance, leadership and social responsibility
Track 2 – Management, operations and practice
Track 3 – Human capital, professionalism and people management
Track 4 – Finance and economics
Track 5 – Policy and regulations
Presenters:
- Value-based healthcare principles in the full cycle of care: implementation and development of a cardiac care network in the Netherlands
Dr Jeroen van de Pol, Netherlands Heart Network, The Netherlands - PPP in the healthcare service ecosystem: how do we measure performance?
Mr Federico Umberto Mion, Ospedale Regionale di Lugano – Ente Ospedaliero Cantonale, Switzerland
- Healthcare expenditures, governance quality and population health outcomes in ECOWAS
Mr N’Guessan Michael Kouadio, Institute of Governance, humanities and social sciences of Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Economic burden of healthcare-associated infections in hospital care: case-control study in Québec, Canada
Prof Eric Tchouaket, Université de Québec en Outaouais; Université de Montréal, Canada & Ms Stephanie Robins, Université de Québec en Outaouais, Canada
- Practical guidance for the application of time-driven activity-based costing in an integrated maternal care unit from a value-based healthcare perspective
Ms Maud van den Berg, Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management, The Netherlands
- Building sustainability initiatives with accredited graduate healthcare management educational programs: outcomes and impact over the past decade
Dr Anthony Stanowski, Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education, USA
- Fostering resilience in the health care system in the context of the post COVID-19 pandemic recovery: the case of an acute teaching hospital in Malta
Dr Gianpaolo Tomaselli, Mater Dei Hospital; University of Malta, Malta
- The healthcare transformation programme in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Mr Stephen Moore, Health Holding Company, Saudi Arabia
- Relevant issues in sustainable health planning: a materiality analysis in Portugal, 2021
Dr Ana Cristina Garcia, Global Health and Tropical Medicine (GHTM), Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, NOVA University of Lisbon; Department of Epidemiology, National Institute of Health Doctor Ricardo Jorge, Portugal
- Reform of the Croatian healthcare system
Dražen Jurković, MD, Croatian Health Employers’ Association, Croatia
- Healthcare waste management during the COVID pandemic: analysis of organizational and environmental impacts in four Italian healthcare facilities
Dr Chiara Cadeddu, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Italian Institute for Planetary Health, Italy
- Factorial analysis of Key Performance Indicators in a 1184 beds university hospital in Romania in a pandemic era 2017-2021
Drd. ec. Ioana Blaga, Technical University of Cluj Napoca, Romania
- Sustainable solutions of complex environmental concern in management of pharmaceuticals
Prof Dr Marija Jevtic, Faculty of Medicine University of Novi Sad, Serbia; Institute of Public Health of Vojvodina, Serbia; Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Research centre on Environmental and Occupational Health, School of Public Health, Belgium
Presenters:
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Migrant healthcare workers and exacerbating inequalities during the COVID-19 pandemic: what to learn from international experiences on health systems?
Dr Ellen Kuhlmann, Hannover Medical School, Germany -
The worrying trend of health workforce migration in Iran
Dr Hassan Joulaei, Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran -
Cross-border mobility: how to track different groups of mobile health professionals?
Dr Zoltán Cserháti, Health Services Management Training Centre, Semmelweis University, Hungary -
Health workforce planning: challenges, opportunities and recommendations from an international systematic literature review
Mr Luigi Apuzzo, ‘Staffing needs, standards and organisational models of the health professions’ Unit, National Agency for Regional Health Services (AGENAS), Italy -
What really matter for healthcare workers: a six pillars methodology experience
Dr Luca Giorgio, Graduate School of Health Economics and Management – ALTEMS, Italy -
Job satisfaction of health care staff employed at 3 public hospitals in Jordan
Ms Rana Alotaiby, Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary -
Analysing the mediating effect of perceived organisational support on budgetary feedback and role satisfaction: evidence from healthcare
Dr Manuela Paolini, D’Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Italy -
Loss of empathy in primary care professionals after covid pandemic. Strategies to regain empathy
Dr Carlos Bernades, CASAP, Spain -
The evolution of controllers from ideal role-types to hybrid roles in healthcare organisations
Prof Antonella Cifalinò, CERISMAS – Università Cattolica Sacro Cuore, Italy -
Preparing pharmacy professionals for new ways of integrated working
Dr Sarah Willis, University of Manchester, United Kingdom -
Remote health care: the ambition of an inclusive organisational model
Eng. Valeria Giordano, ASL ROMA 3, Italy -
A future-focused leadership competency model for healthcare executives
Ms Sylvia Basterrechea, International Hospital Federation, Geneva Sustainability Centre, Switzerland -
The new ICT tools for the training residents: learning opportunities!
Prof Concetta Lucia Cristofaro, University ecampus, Italy
Not yet fully awake? Nothing a good coffee can’t solve!
This session is offered by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
Take the chance to look at the poster while enjoy lunch
Healthcare across many countries faces some of the biggest challenges in recent history. This will require transformation, innovation, compassion and courage. A wealth of research evidence now guides managers towards the key areas for their roles in transforming for the future: compassionate and collective leadership and cultures in health services, meeting the core needs of staff, developing strong team and cross boundary working, and self-compassion. The presentation will address the question of how managers can lead in developing compassionate and collective leadership to develop cultures of high quality, continually improving and compassionate care to meet the needs of patients and communities. Such leadership will, at the same time, ensure the well-being and growth of the staff who provide healthcare. Drawing on the evidence from healthcare services, the experience of the pandemic, case examples of outstanding practice and from international reviews into healthcare workers’ mental health and wellbeing, the symposium will provide practical guidance necessary to help ensure that compassion, high quality care and innovation are at the heart of management and leadership of healthcare systems. It will also describe how managers can lead their teams, using the principles of compassionate and collective leadership, to ensure high quality care and the continuous quality improvement and innovation that will enable transformation of healthcare teams and organisations for the future.
Keynote speaker
- Prof Michael West, Visiting Fellow, The King’s Fund; Professor of Work and Organisational Psychology, Lancaster University; Visiting Professor, University College Dublin; Emeritus Professor, Aston University, United Kingdom
Facilitator
- Prof Americo Cicchetti, Director, ALTEMS, Italy
Award Ceremony
- Karolinska Institutet Medical Management Center (MMC) & EHMA Research Award
This Award was established to stimulate early career researchers to engage in healthcare management research. At its 18th edition, the Award will recognise the best doctoral thesis in the field of health management. - EHMA Awards for best European Paper, best non-European Paper, and Best Poster
Announcing EHMA 2024
Closing remarks
- Prof Sandra Buttigieg, President, European Health Management Association (EHMA); Professor and Head of the Department of Health Services Management, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Malta, Malta
Thank you for joining us. Arrivederci at #EHMA2024!