Strengthening territorial response for better health

During a severe emergency like a pandemic, it is not so important how to buy but rather what to buy immediately, assuming that the imminent danger still allows extraordinary and fast procurement procedures. And there are things you cannot do without. Deeping dive into the experience of AReSS Puglia (the Strategic Agency for Health and Social Care of Apulia region, IT), this module aims to explore four main procurement lines that can be crucial for health authorities in planning and setting up a timely and effective response to the outbreak of a health emergency.

This module explores digital transformation and change management in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and provides an introduction to evaluating digital health technologies. The module will begin with a lecture in interview format on digital transformation, with a particular focus on the Catalan region. Some of the topics covered in this interview will include: 1)The shift towards digital operations: what’s new? 2) What is change management and why is it important in the current context; 3) Guidelines and procedures for policymaking: one size fits all? 4) The importance of the cultural environment; 5) The role of citizens. A second lecture will describe how digitalisation has transformed the evaluation of medical technologies. First, we will revise a few basic aspects of health technology assessment. Then, we will discuss evidence-based evaluation of digital health products (apps, sensors, wearables, etc) and explain what are some of its specific requirements. The lecture will highlight the importance of having a formal assessment across technical, clinical, usability, and cost domains. To that end, we will review the existing landscape and gaps, and introduce some evolving responses and new approaches.

Nowadays, structured and sustainable Euregional collaboration in the field of public health is crucial. Based on the experience gained by euPrevent and GGD Limburg in dealing with cross-border cooperation, this module will draw attention to three different perspectives: Research, stressing the importance of cross-border data collection and analysis accessible to professionals and the general public; Policy, catching the perceptions of regional stakeholders on national measures across the borders; Citizens, with a focus on their role in cross-border political design and decision-making process.