The characteristics, developments and future of the Italian healthcare sector

The kick-off day of the 22nd edition of MiMS (the Master in Management for Healthcare) began with institutional greetings from Director Valeria Tozzi, Stefano Caselli, Dean of SDA Bocconi School of Management and Enzo Balieri Associate Dean for Master Division. The Director immediately drew attention to how much "the MiMS project is based on a community of people who share a real passion for the health sector made up of researchers specialized in the field, institutions of differing nature (public but also private companies) and students who over the years feed the network of former participants that totals about 800 people." This is a very powerful notion, which Tozzi wanted to reiterate several times. He also underlined that "this community is rich and cohesive and accustomed to constant exchanges starting from the results coming from the research conducted by SDA Bocconi's Cergas". The Director continued, "thanks to the study and exchange of experiences, the community is keen to contribute to the processes that make the system, companies and services more and more adequate to people's needs."

These themes were also taken up and reiterated by Dean Stefano Caselli, who wanted to mention how much "the strength of the master's program lies in its ability to help people understand the complexity of management in health care, thanks also to the exchange of approaches and experiences with those working in the sector. Just think of the many institutions involved in the program, public and private organizations as well as former Master's students who participate and contribute to creating the most comprehensive training path related to health protection. That's because education isn't merely to be consumed, but is a collective act”.

This was followed by a panel discussion attended by students Francesca Patarnello, VP Market Access&Government Affairs at Astrazeneca and Massimo Annichiarico Regional Director of Health and Social Health Integration of the Lazio Region. The topic of community featured very strongly here as well because as pointed out by Patarnello, "in health care you don't do anything alone, relationships and rapport are very important in this sector, and one of the great values of students coming out of MiMS, besides competence, is the ability to know how to relate and network." This sentiment was reinforced by Annichiarico's speech, who reminded us how crucial the choice to attend a master's degree in management at Bocconi was because having a "specific and professional lens" to frame the dynamics of the sector helps to understand the phenomena in order to then intervene. In addition, he emphasized how at a time of extraordinary complexity, such as the one we are experiencing, there is a need for different skills and interpretive tools in order to help the whole sector."

Prompted by Director Tozzi, Patarnello then presented the activities that a company like Astrazeneca undertakes with the aim of partnering public institutions on a national scale. "We work and live off interactions with institutions, we engage with all levels and stakeholders, and research is a big area of relationship with industry players," she recounted. The underlying theme is "knowledge of the market, understanding the role that medicines play in people's daily lives and in the organization of services." Regarding research, Patarnello stressed that "clinical research is a diverse world with different ranges of capacities that need to be taken into account. And since the quality of research is fundamental, it is important to understand what and how to develop it to improve the quality of healthcare."

To try to give an answer to these students' questions, Annichiarico wanted to analyze some issues related to the NRP and how investments affect the relationship between regions and national health institutions. One of the central themes is related to the characteristics of the health system in Italy, which "is characterized by many differences and inequalities. Organization is a crucial lever for working on inequalities," Annichiarico stresses, "because without organization and management it would be impossible to homogeneously distribute the knowledge and technical innovations available to cohorts of patients who are very heterogeneous in terms of needs, expectations and general living conditions." "We are living in a critical period, and NRP funds have the potential to generate value in the service chain so as to reduce these differences. Different answers to problems are needed, because the goal of the NRP is to raise overall standards of care across the country as much as possible."

SDA Bocconi School of Management