The health publication New Medical Economics, through the votes of the Editorial Board and its readers, has given Ribera Salud the award for the ‘Best Project in Digital Health’. Last week we were in Madrid to receive the award and I must confess that this recognition particularly excites me because it highlights our group’s firm commitment to the digital transformation in the provision of health care.
At the awards ceremony, which took place at the Ministry of Health, I had the opportunity to meet with renowned personalities of Spanish health. In attendance were, for example, several ministers for health, such as the minister from the Community of Madrid, Enrique Ruíz Escudero, the minister from Castilla La Mancha, Jesus Fernandez Sanz, and the one from Asturias, Francisco del Busto.
I also had the opportunity to reacquaint myself with Boi Ruiz, member of the Board of Directors of Ribera Salud -it’s a privilege to work every day with people like him-, and with Luis Mayero, chairman of IDIS. Also with colleagues from the Valencia Regional Government and other autonomous communities, among which I was delighted to meet the Andalusian School of Public Health.
In my speech I tried to explain that innovation and technology must necessarily be linked to the presentation of results, transparency and to the demonstration of value they generate. They cannot be wonderful concepts that remain concealed in the abstract but must flourish in the day-to-day reality. They are two essential concepts if we want to achieve healthcare par excellence and healthcare that is sustainable in the long term because, first of all, they serve to give greater welfare to our citizens and, second, so that the Public Administrations achieve the real aim of responsible healthcare that is committed to the health of citizens.
In this regard, I am extremely proud that the award we have been given coincides with publication of the report from the Audit Office of the Valencian Community on the management model in the Department of Health of Torrevieja. Once again, this is a study that has been conducted at the request of the Valencian government to corroborate whether or not private management is efficient; and the conclusion is yet again clear and emphatic: Torrevieja is synonymous with efficiency, quality, avant-garde, innovation and progress.
For us it is a huge satisfaction to verify that the audit office -the Valencian public auditor- concludes that we are saving 30% of the cost to citizens of the Valencian Community. In the first place, it specifies an annual saving of 45 million euros; second, waiting lists are 38 days compared to 115 days on average in the Valencian Community; third, mortality is lower; fourth, life expectancy is greater than the rest; fifth, satisfaction is higher; sixth, the management agreements are 20 points above average and, in seventh place, per capita investment is higher. In the words of the audit office: “Torrevieja is one of the most efficient hospitals in the Valencian Community”.
Undoubtedly, these results would be impossible without the excellent work of all professionals who put all their efforts and know-how into our well-being, in caring for us, fostering our autonomy through the use of new technologies, without losing sight of the humanist vision of healthcare.
I am very grateful to New Medical Economics for giving us this award. At Ribera Salud, for years we have been committed to digital transformation in the provision of healthcare, so this recognition represents a new impetus to continue improving the use of technologies applied to health management.
