The project
Health care systems are facing huge challenges. Demographic changes and new demands for care, therapeutic innovation and health technology assessment, and strategic alliances between public and private sectors are all transforming the landscape of healthcare. Moreover, all of this change is unfolding against the backdrop of constantly-updating European legislation. So how can healthcare protagonists address the most important challenges of their rapidly evolving sector?
Privileged Talks are the SDA Bocconi’s new initiative to meet the increasingly urgent need to broaden and deepen the discussion of these issues. Bringing together the international protagonists of the heath system, the talks were created to become an exclusive opportunity for meeting and debating with the policy makers of the European healthcare system.
“An innovative format based on high-level conversations between decision makers, experts, and researchers to address high-impact issues,” emphasizes Giuseppe Soda, Dean of SDA Bocconi, who presented the initiative. In line with the School’s mission of creating knowledge applied to reality, the Privileged Talks are also “an innovative way to train health managers by involving them and making them feel like protagonists of their own training experience”, as Rosanna Tarricone, Associate Dean of SDA Bocconi’s Health and Non-Profit division reiterated.
The first meeting of the series was titled “EU Regulation of HTA: can one size fit all?” It welcomed Flora Giorgio, Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Health & Consumers of the European Commission, who addressed the emerging issue of health technology assessment. Giorgio’s speech explored the European Commission’s proposal to strengthen cooperation between Member States to accelerate innovation and achieve better quality healthcare. This includes increasing integration between Member States through joint clinical evaluation and joint scientific consultation. Two fundamental questions were raised through the meeting’s evaluation: can HTA be applied equally to all types of health technologies? And are we ready to face the challenges of joint evaluation?
As well as being a valuable examination of the forces shaping healthcare in Europe, the first Privileged Talk attracted policymakers who could influence its direction. Participants included leading figures in European and international health policy such as Mike Drummond, professor at the University of York, Richard Charter, Head of Market Access & Pricing EMEA, Diabetes Care, BD Medical & Vice-Chair Evidence & Payers Working Group of Medtech Europe and Ansgar Hebborn, Head - Global HTA & Payment Policy at Roche Pharmaceuticals
& EFPIA-HTA Group Chair. Charter said that the meeting “was an excellent opportunity to understand that we have a wealth of information to make the best tactical and strategic decisions”. Similarly, Andrea Rappagliosi, Vice President of Market Access and Public Affairs Canada and LatAm at Edward Lifescience, described it as “the best way to bring together people who can contribute to the evolution of the health system in the third millennium”.
Like the healthcare systems they explore, the Privileged Talks will continue to grow and evolve, always seeking to improve our understanding of the future of health. Most of all, they will give healthcare professionals a platform to communicate their concerns, ideas, and insights to the industry, enabling them to break new ground. As Tarricone quipped, “Taking part in the Privileged Talks? Well, it’s a privilege.”