In 2018, Friends of Europe launched a working group series on health (dis)investment, gathering various key stakeholders from the healthcare sector and beyond, to discuss how a systematic approach to spending in health can earmark both funds for innovation and release resources for practices that don’t deliver better health results.
This debate will launch the report of the health (dis)investment series, presenting the outcomes of these discussions which brings together the views of a large network of health professionals, policymakers, scholars and business representatives on health investments. Key recommendations will be presented and discussed amongst participants, ahead of the new European Commission and Parliament to be elected in 2019.
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Related content:
- Event summary
- Smart (dis)investment choices in healthcare
- Event page of first working group: Smart Investment For Better Outcomes
- Event page of second working group: How To Spend It? Smart disinvestment choices in health
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12.30-13.00
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Welcome & registration
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13.00-14.15
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Healthcare systems across the OECD countries are being challenged by ageing populations, increasing costs and limited funds. On top of that, not all money invested in health is well spent and not all interventions are fit for purpose. Addressing this issue would release much needed resources and improve health outcomes. Progress has been made at EU level in finetuning approaches to evaluating new technologies (HTA) and overall health system performance (HSPA). These are building blocks in a smart investment strategy. But few countries have developed strategies to actively disinvest in redundant, outdated or ineffective treatments. Research is missing on how to identify which health interventions are of minor or no health benefit.
- What role does the EU play in ensuring that all stakeholders in healthcare can be rewarded for better health outcomes?
- What could be the key elements in a possible common EU approach to health disinvestment?
- What can the EU do to generate the evidence needed for smart investment decision-making for health at national, regional or local level?
- Big data and AI are expected to revolutionise healthcare, but there are concerns around ethics and privacy of patient data. Beyond the GDPR, what can the EU do to support the revolution?
Speakers include:
Loubna Bouarfa, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of OKRA Technologies, an artificial intelligence data analytics company for healthcare
Wolfgang Burtscher, Deputy Director-General, DG RTD, European Commission
Sylvain Giraud, Head of Unit for Performance of National Health Systems, European Commission Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety
Andrea Rappagliosi, Vice-President, Market Access and Public Affairs, EMEA, Canada and LATAM, at Edwards Lifesciences
Khalil Rouhana, European Commission Deputy Director-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Moderated by
Dharmendra Kanani, Director of Insights at Friends of Europe






This event is exclusively for Friends of Europe’s members, EU institution representatives and media.
Sarah Bentz
Tel.: +32 2 893 98 23
Email: sarah.bentz@friendsofeurope.org
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