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October

The Hospital of the Future Conferences: 6th International Conference on the Management of Healthcare & Medical Technology

Location: Pisa, Italy
Dates: 3-5 October 2007
Venue: Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna

Theme: “Towards responsibility and compliance in the innovation and management of healthcare technologies: international perspectives and comparative experiences”

About the HCTM Association

HCTM is about redesigning the health care delivery system

Major transformations are occurring in the delivery of healthcare worldwide. Medical and healthcare related technologies are increasingly having a significant impact on many dimensions of healthcare. Innovations introduced during the last decade have had cumulative and complex effects altering both treatment of disease and the way healthcare is delivered. This radical evolutionary trend will persist and indeed be compounded by the continuing technologically-driven progress in medicine. Areas such as tele-medicine, tele-health, tele-mentoring, computerized medical records, e-health and use of the Internet in B2B and B2C applications in healthcare are some of the milestones in the near total revamping of the healthcare landscape. Innovations in medical and healthcare technologies have already transformed therapeutic interventions and operations, design, layout and mission of hospitals. In this respect, the challenges for the future provide an exciting opportunity for study, reflection, planning and action.

HCTM is about exploring key issues and trends

The association provides a forum for identifying and exploring key issues relating to healthcare, technology and management and in formulating and setting up research agendas in this field for the future.

HCTM is an international network

We are a network of academics and managers from around the world interested in advancing and disseminating knowledge about healthcare, technology and management. HCTM is a global network with international links where people can get together to communicate experiences and exchange ideas. It is a network that bridges the gap between research and clinical/ managerial practice.

HCTM is a multidisciplinary network

The association is concerned with a variety of different fields, including: changes and transformations in society, application of information technologies, emerging technologies in medical care and their role in modern clinical management.

HCTM focuses on the development and application of knowledge

Excellence in the provision of improved healthcare relies on and is thus led by new knowledge based on related R &D.

Conference Background: Over the years in the previous HCTM annual conferences we have examined the returns and benefits of medical technologies, the application and organisational aspects of creating and implementing cutting-edge technologies, the trends and the advances made in the field of technology and its management in healthcare delivery, and the challenges for the future. Against this background, the next conference in 2007 seeks to encourage an international and multidisciplinary debate on the “responsibility and compliance in the management of healthcare technologies in an integrated healthcare system”. As this issue is complex and multifaceted, several different theories, approaches, perspectives and dialogues are required to achieve a common understanding necessary to define the state of the art.

Papers will be expected to deal with the identification and analysis of the different roles and contributions, and therefore with the responsibilities of the different actors involved in the development, adoption and management of cost-effective and appropriate healthcare technologies, i.e., manufacturers, sales agencies, scholars, researchers, regulators, payers (including insurers), managers (including risk managers), and professionals.

Conference theme and sections: The theme for the 6th International Conference on the Management of Healthcare and Medical Technology is “Towards responsibility and compliance in the management of healthcare technologies: international perspectives and comparative experiences”.

The conference will explore the issue of responsibility with respect to each phase of the healthcare technology life cycle; hence the conference will have the following general sections:

• Section 1 - Healthcare technology development: concept generation of innovative healthcare technology; ethical issues concerning innovative healthcare technology; projected future research direction needs; technology-driven innovations versus health need-driven innovations; uptake and safe diffusion of new medical technologies/ devices, constructive health technology assessment; product life cycle management models for healthcare technology.

• Section 2 - Healthcare technology compliance and regulation: commercialization authorization; liability and insurance issues in healthcare technology; Health Technology Assessment and reimbursement decisions; trends, advances, and challenges of technology in healthcare and the social policy issues of health care delivery: affordability, access, availability; Compliance and ethical implications; Trends and advances in technology for healthcare delivery and the issue of quality of care; The role of government and its influence on trends, advances, challenges and future research in technology for healthcare delivery.

• Section 3 - Healthcare technology adoption by the healthcare organization: hospital based-Health Technology Assessment; investment planning and programming; businessplanning;

• Section 4 - Healthcare technology management by the healthcare organization: organizational impacts, change management; business process re-engineering; technology overlapping; development of sound information systems; performance measurement; audit; maintenance; safety and replacement plans; anonymous incident reporting systems;

• Section 5 - Contributions from PhD students are welcome and encouraged. One section of the Conference is allocated to presentations by PhD students on the subject matter of their doctoral thesis (at all stages of preparation). The students presenting their work will thus have the opportunity to explain and defend their research questions, the investigative approach and methodology they have chosen to test their hypotheses to a qualified audience of experts, thus benefiting from useful suggestions and feedback on their work. Alternatively, PhD students whose research project is in an advanced stage can decide to present the outcome of their research in one of the above mentioned sections.

For all sections papers dealing with benchmarking across countries, regions and types of providers and payer systems are especially welcome.

Who should attend? The conference is of interest to a variety of groups and professionals within the larger industry of healthcare and healthcare delivery. These groups include medical and healthcare practitioners, researchers, academics, manufacturers, jurists, regulators, and consultants involved in all the phases of development, delivery, evaluation, risk management, research or teaching of healthcare services and of healthcare technologies management.

Included in this list, are also the manufacturers of medical instruments and healthcare equipment/ devices; pharmaceutical companies; biotechnology companies; providers of information and telecommunication technology for healthcare delivery; regulatory agencies; medical and healthcare professional groups and associations; insurance and other financial companies involved in healthcare; and faculty and students in programs in healthcare management, technology, policy, strategy, economics, and ethics.

All are invited to submit papers relevant to the conference theme, sections and topics described above.

Submissions

1. Abstract submission: If you would like to present a paper at the conference, please submit an abstract (max 500 words) to the conference coordinator at: HCTMconference2007@sssup.it Each abstract should contain:
   • Paper title
   • All authors’ names, with details of the Institution and full postal address, telephone, fax, email address of the corresponding author, identified by the name being underlined
   • Section of choice and 2nd preference
   • Each conference participant is not expected to present more than two papers, although he/she may be co-author of other papers presented at the Conference.
2. Paper submission: If you are invited to present a full paper for presentation during the conference, please follow the presentation guidelines which you will find nearer the event on the conference website.
3. Ph.D. submissions for the PhD section should contain a statement that the paper is being submitted to the Ph.D. section, and should include the title of the thesis. Papers submitted for other sections should indicate 1st and 2nd section preferences.

KEY DATES

• Deadline submission of abstract: 8 June 2007
• Authors will be notified of acceptance: 19 June 2007
• Deadline submission of full paper: 27 August 2007
• Deadline registration: 3 September 2007

Proceedings and Publication: All the papers selected for oral presentation at the conference will be published in the Conference Proceedings and in a CD-ROM distributed at the conference to all conference participants who register for the conference. Selected papers, following peer-review, will be included in a special issue of the International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management. In addition, a book based on selected papers presented at the Conference is also planned.

Contact: For additional information, please visit http://www.sssup.it/HCTMconference2007 or contact the conference coordinator at: HCTMconference2007@sssup.it

October 3, 2007: Health Care

October

Priorities and Equity in Health Care Policy: 12th Annual Conference of the Italian Health Economics Association (AIES)

Location: Florence, Italy
Venue: University of Florence - Faculty of Economics
Conference dates: 18-19 October 2007

Scientific Commitee

• Stefania Lorenzini, IRPET: lorenzini@irpet.it
• Cristina Ugolini, University of Bologna: cristina.ugolini@unibo.it
• Mario Del Vecchio, University of Florence and CERGAS–University Bocconi Milan: mario.delvecchio@uni-bocconi.it
• Cesare Cislaghi, Regional Health Care Agency-Tuscany and University of Milan: cesare.cislaghi@arsanita.toscana.it

Organization and Conference Secretariat

• Lucia Dalla Villa: dallavilla@irpet.it
• Grazia Cadeddu: cadeddu@irpet.it

IRPET, Via La Farina, 27, 50132, Florence - Italy
Phone: +39 055 57411 Fax: +39 055 574155

The theme of the Conference – Priorities and Equity in Health Care Policy - may be faced both with theoretical and empirical papers pertaining either to Italian or foreign experiences. Some examples of topics that fit the Conference targets include:

• Basic levels of public health care: definition, consistency, impact on management
• Funding and resource allocation at regional and local level: criteria, methods and effects
• Determinants of health needs: macroeconomic effects and scope for public intervention
• Relevance of ethical and economic values in defining priorities and management choices
• Costs of unappropriate care: analysis and intervention strategies
• Inequalities in health and access conditions, equity in health care delivery and finance
• Policy options for reducing inequalities and promoting equity
• Models, tools and experiences of measurement of equity and quality in health care
• Responsibility of health care management in pursuing equity

A limited number of papers not specifically pertaining to the Conference theme will be admitted for discussion in one ore more free sessions.

Some sessions in English language will be organized. The languages of the conference are English and Italian (with no simultaneous translation).

All information on the Conference will be published on AIES website: http://www.aiesweb.it

October 19, 2007: Health Policy

October

29th Annual Meeting of The Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM)

Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Dates: 20-24 October 2007
Abstract Submission Deadline: 8 June 2007
Venue: Sheraton Station Square Hotel

This year’s meeting will focus on:

• Exploring the science of decisions
• Consumer-driven, individualized health care

Keynote Address: Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer with The New Yorker and author of the bestselling books “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” and “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference”, will speak about topics related to making decisions in his talk: “Lessons from the Outside”.

Call for Short Courses: SMDM is now accepting proposals for Short Courses for the 2007 Annual Meeting. Submission form is available at http://www.smdm.org/. The deadline for submission of these proposals is March 5, 2007

Call for Nominations for the 2007 SMDM Awards: Program is designed to recognize distinguished service to SMDM and/or the medical decision making field. Visit http://www.smdm.org/ for detailed descriptions of awards, past recipients, and eligibility requirements. Deadline for award nominations: April 1, 2007

Call for Abstracts: Submit your original work for presentation at the 2007 Annual Meeting in Oral and Poster format. Electronic submission site and detailed instructions will be available starting March 2 at http://www.smdm.org/. Deadline for abstract submission: June 8, 2007

Mark Your Calendar

• February 1, 2007 - Hotel Reservation Opens
• March 2, 2007 - Abstract Submission Site Opens
• March 5, 2007 - Call for Short Courses Due
• April 1, 2007 - Call for Awards Nominations Due
• June 8, 2007 - Abstract Submission Deadline
• June 13, 2007 - Meeting Registration Opens
• October 20-24, 2007 - 2007 SMDM Annual Meeting

October 20, 2007: Meeting

October

"Strengthening Public Health Services in Europe. Public Health Functions and Educational Needs": The 29th ASPHER Annual Conference

Location: Valencia, Spain
Dates: 26-28 October 2007

In the light of this main subject, we hope to be able to create a time to exchange initiatives and successful practices in relation to the three essential fields of action in Public Health:

• Health protection
• Disease prevention
• Health promotion

We consider that revising our day-to-day experiences is the best basis to define the essential dimensions, services and education needs in each of the three aforementioned fields, and in short, in Public Health services in the European region.

The conference allows us to learn about the initiatives taken in different countries, to know the policies and successful practices and to go deep into the various aspects, always with the purpose of improving the education and task performance of the Public Health professionals.

http://www.aspher2007valencia.org/

Contact:

Eva Garcia
organising@aspher2007valencia.org

October 26, 2007: Public Health