27th Congress of the European Association of Hospital Managers

Gerry O'Dwyer - President of the European Association of Hospital Managers

Alexandre Louren�o - President of the Portuguese Association of Hospital Managers

Alexandre Lourenço - President of the Portuguese Association of Hospital Managers

As President of the European Association of Hospital Managers (EAHM), I am delighted to invite all my European colleagues to attend the 27th EAHM Congress, that will take place in Cascais, Lisbon, from 26th – 28th September 2018. The Congress will address the subject “Redefining the Role of Hospitals - Innovating in Population Health”, therefore attracting interesting discussions and debates. As you are aware, the European Association of Hospital Managers is one of the world’s largest hospital management associations, with more than 16,000 individual members. It represents both managers of public and private hospitals in the European Union and at an international level. EAHM has the following aim: to consider the mission and responsibility of chief executive officers; to contribute to their professional competence and responsibility; to share good practices and expertise; to influence European Union-wide legislation and regulation; and to promote at European and International level.

As the EU comes out of a global recession, and as long as the consequences of Brexit remain uncertain, Hospital Managers will endure on the front line in terms of balancing supply and demand. This dynamic, in the near future, will continue to present challenges. Balancing health service requirements with available resources is a key management function.

With the scope “Redefining the Role of Hospitals - Innovating in Population Health”, the 27th EAHM Congress will address the possibility of integrating innovation and technology in order to positively change the way we can deliver healthcare and define the role of hospitals in the future. Within this focus, the following main topics will be discussed: People Centeredness; Integration of Care; Innovative Provision Models; Financial Sustainability and Management Matters.

As the needs of an aging population grow, resources are becoming increasingly stretched across the globe. This is in addition to the escalation of certain viruses and diseases. Therefore, on-going challenges will remain for European hospital managers and for hospital managers worldwide and will continue to be an issue for management.

All considered, this promises to be an excellent event, with industry experts providing an informative insight in the magnificent and premium setting of Cascais, Lisbon, Portugal. Further details of the event will be posted on EAHM’s website.

I very much look forward to seeing you all in September 2018.

Gerry O’Dwyer

President of European Association of Hospital Managers (EAHM)

Healthcare is one the most exciting and innovative industries of the XXI century, and hospitals are the most complex and sophisticated organizations ever developed.

During the last decade, we have been more and more concentrated on responding to people’s expectations, adopting new technologies, obtaining internal efficiencies and assuring financial sustainability. At some point, improving the health of the population that we serve have been put on the second plan. Moreover, even though the high level of sophistication that we achieved, our processes are organized as they were more than 50 years ago. Our model of business is more and more seen as unreliable, unsafe and prone to error.

Bear in mind, the challenges that we face as an industry (for example, the demographic shift, the pace of technological innovation, the changing user and consumer expectations, and the growing financial pressure) cannot be answered solely by us, and we absolutely need to engage other health and social care network partners to overcome them. Hospitals need to redefine their role by promoting new innovative public health strategies.

More than ever, the healthcare system needs hospitals as beacons towards the future. Hence, hospital managers leadership is more than crucial.
From the 26 to the 28 September 2018, we challenge you to discuss and to debate hospitals delivery model and to commonly redefine the role of hospitals, not only as an industry but also as public health agents.
We welcome you to the westernmost point of mainland Europe, to discover new routes for our collective future.

Alexandre Lourenço
President of Portuguese Association of Hospital Managers (APAH)

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