- Fenin and SEDISA promote a roadmap with the new generations of healthcare managers to address the major challenges facing the National Health System
- The Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies, Fenin, and the Spanish Society of Healthcare Managers, SEDISA, are promoting a “roadmap” with the new generations of managers to address the “major challenges” facing the National Health System (SNS) and hospitals, as well as the support provided by industry as a “strategic partner” in these centres.
- “Our sector is an ally of hospital management teams and executive boards in optimising hospital resources. Technological innovation helps address challenges such as personalised medicine, the shortage of professionals and sustainability,” said Pablo Crespo, Secretary General of Fenin.
- “The incorporation of innovation and AI, or the digitalisation of care processes, requires us to rethink the way in which our organisations are managed,” said José Soto, President of SEDISA.
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The added value of the Healthcare Technology sector has led to its evolution from a supplier of innovative equipment and medical devices to a “strategic partner” for hospitals. What role does technological innovation play in the transformation of healthcare organisations? How can industry collaborate in the agile incorporation of innovation and value-based procurement?
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To address the “major challenges” facing the National Health System, the Spanish Federation of Healthcare Technology Companies, Fenin, together with the Spanish Society of Healthcare Managers, SEDISA, recently brought together the new generations of healthcare executives to draw up a “roadmap” aimed at consolidating more sustainable, technologically advanced healthcare organisations focused on value for patients.
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From this space for dialogue promoted by Fenin and SEDISA, which also included representatives of the SEDISA Alumni Committee, ALSEDISA, a conclusions document has been produced, focusing on the future of healthcare delivery, the regulatory framework, the incorporation of technological innovation into healthcare centres and the relationship between managers and industry, among other topics for reflection.
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“The Healthcare Technology sector is an ally of hospital management teams and executive boards in optimising hospital resources. The innovative solutions developed by our industry facilitate greater organisational and care efficiency in these centres and contribute to addressing current challenges such as the implementation of personalised medicine, the shortage of healthcare professionals and environmental sustainability,” said Pablo Crespo, Secretary General of Fenin.
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For his part, José Soto, President of SEDISA, highlighted that “healthcare systems are at a decisive moment of transformation. The incorporation of technological innovation, the development of artificial intelligence, the digitalisation of care processes and the emergence of new models of care require us to deeply rethink the way in which our healthcare organisations are organised and managed. In this context, healthcare executives play an absolutely strategic role, as they must ensure that this innovation reaches the system efficiently, safely and with a focus on generating real value for patients and for the sustainability of the system itself.”
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Regarding the challenges faced by young healthcare executives, Marcos Hernández Pereña, President of ALSEDISA, noted that they “represent a generation that enters management with a different perspective, closely linked to innovation, digital transformation and the need to introduce structural changes in healthcare organisations. They are professionals who understand management as a tool to improve health outcomes, optimise resources and guarantee the sustainability of the system in an increasingly complex context.”
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In this regard, Marcos Hernández added that the document presented “makes clear that young healthcare managers are particularly aware of this vision. They understand that the transformation of the system requires progress towards models such as value-based public procurement, strengthening the culture of innovation within organisations and promoting multidisciplinary teams that integrate clinical, technological, economic and legal profiles in decision-making.”
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The future of care and resource optimisation
Young healthcare executives agree that the care model is at a turning point, in which the “technological, demographic and cultural changes” already affecting the system must be taken into account. For its transformation, they highlight the need to strengthen “strategic planning” through participatory processes involving all levels of management and healthcare professionals within the centre.
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The concept of the “liquid hospital” is also valued, as it goes beyond the physical boundaries of the centre to bring care closer to patients’ homes, with innovations such as telemedicine and remote monitoring technologies playing a key role.
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Likewise, in order to make better use of hospital resources — economic, human and care-related — the need to promote personalised and preventive medicine is highlighted, anticipating disease and relieving pressure on healthcare services, with the support of the innovative solutions developed by industry.
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Incorporating value-based innovation
Technological innovation is identified in this document as an “essential driver” of change. Young healthcare executives highlight the need to extend the “culture of innovation” to all hospital employees, through professionalisation and training, and to work towards its agile incorporation into healthcare centres.
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To achieve this objective, the creation of specific Public Procurement of Innovation departments is key, with multidisciplinary teams made up of engineers, economists, legal experts and other specialists.
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Value-based public procurement of healthcare technology is identified as one of the major challenges for the healthcare system. Participants agree that, although there is awareness of its importance, its practical application remains limited. To advance towards value- and quality-based models, greater collaboration with industry and stronger training for procurement teams are proposed, among other measures.
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Reflections on innovation also focus on the increasing use of disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence in healthcare. In this regard, the view is unanimous: it is essential to guarantee the ethical and safe incorporation of AI into care processes, in accordance with the regulatory framework, and not to develop AI solutions within healthcare centres through “in-house” manufacturing when certified commercial solutions with CE marking already exist.
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Challenges: professionalisation and generational renewal
Participants in the Fenin-SEDISA document note the need for generational renewal in management positions, which currently remains limited. To reverse this situation, it is necessary to offer attractive projects that appeal to new generations and do not focus solely on financial remuneration, but also on emotional salary, quality of life, trust, security and other factors, as well as a broader training offer in management to promote professionalisation.
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Nevertheless, the document highlights the maturity, vision and commitment of the new generations of healthcare executives, who are willing to take on the current challenges of the system and the healthcare organisations they represent with responsibility.
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Young healthcare executives value the benefits of meetings such as the one promoted by Fenin and SEDISA, as spaces that facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences with other agents in the ecosystem, such as the Healthcare Technology industry, whose role, they stress, has evolved from supplier to “strategic partner”.