If I had to summarize the development of the public-private partnership model in 2013, I would just need three words: GROWING INTERNATIONAL INTEREST.
I want to emphasize the word “growing” because since the Alzira Model was born, it aroused the interest of different foreign organizations and institutions, as shown by the numerous visits received during the last 16 years under this model, as well as the increasing participation in international forums, summits, seminars, world congresses, universities and international business schools studies, foreign media interviews etc…
However, I’d like really like to emphasize three events I’ve recently lived through and which allowed me to confirm the importance of the good job we have been doing in the Public Health Service for 16 years, and which forces us to improve the management and to create new innovative guidelines in the service provided to the citizens.
1.- “Lessons from Spain” seminar in London.
The seminar took place in November and it was organized by PWC and other healthcare management groups. During the seminar we had the opportunity to explain the three pillars the Alzira Model is based on, “per capita” payment, primary care-hospital integration, and the principles of the relationship between the Public Administration and the private company. All the attendees showed their interest in all these aspects as well as in our experience in the shared services model (the central laboratory BR Salud, which provides services to 6 public hospitals and more than 100 primary care centers in Madrid Autonomous Community, covering more than 1,200,000 citizens).
At the same time, our HR Director was also in London. He was invited to participate in “Workforce Leaders Summit”, a forum organized by the National Health System of U.K., to present our HR policy and our incentive plan in the “Productivity international and local issues” conference.
My conclusion after both events: we are leading the experiences of change and reforms that other countries are now studying.
2.- Visit to Cascais and Loures Hospitals, in Portugal.
These two hospitals, together with Braga and Vilafranca de Xira, are the four hospitals under the Alzira Model in Portugal, with a similar system to the PPP hospitals in Madrid. 15% of the Portuguese population is covered by the Alzira Model. From this blog, I want to thank the management team of both hospitals for their kind welcome. They showed me that their challenges, objectives and concerns are similar to ours, that’s why I proposed to organize a PPP Forum to bring together and share our experiences, best practices, etc… It was my pleasure to see our Model expanding abroad.
3.- World Innovation Summit for Health in Doha (WISH).
More than one thousand people from 67 countries attended the summit, where different lines of innovation in our sector were analyzed. One of the conferences was “Accountable Care Organizations”, and the Alzira Model was presented as a successful alternative. I enjoyed discussing and analyzing the Ribera Salud contribution as an example of healthcare innovation, with Dr. Mark Mc.Lean (Brookings Institution), Dr. Pradeep Philip (Department of Health, Victoria, Australia), Dr. Jason Cheah (Agency for Integrated Care, Singapore) and Professor Gautan Sen (Wellspring Healthcare, India). I’m proud of our team and our organization, both the holding group and the concessions.
2013 has been a very international year for Alzira Model, and 2014 will be too. This year, the two new hospitals under PPP Model in Latin America will be inaugurated (Callao and Villa María del Triunfo in Perú). We need to be prepared for the international expansion of the Model in the near future. The trend shows that the Alzira Model is valued all over the world more than in our own country.
I wish you all a happy 2014, I’m sure it will be an intense year and full of news!