How Medical Conferences Promote Healthcare Innovation

The healthcare landscape has undergone many rapid changes during the pandemic, and perhaps the fastest-growing is in the delivery models and services of care outside of hospitals. These changes have naturally arisen from patients’ concerns about being treated in hospitals and potentially exposed to COVID, and have also relieved hospitals from being overloaded with COVID patients.

Most notably, telemedicine and telehealth services have exploded. For example, nearly three-quarters of physicians surveyed by the American Medical Association (AMA) in 2022 said they used telehealth in their medical practices, three times the proportion of physicians who reported using telehealth in 2018, before the pandemic. Another is the hospital at home (HaH), a health care delivery model that provides acute care, a level of health care in which patients are treated during brief but serious illness episodes due to illness or trauma and during recovery from surgery, and patients can receive treatment at home instead of in a hospital. For example, a hospital at home can include in-person visits from health care providers, virtual care teams, wearable medical devices, and more.

Like telehealth, HaH has been practiced for decades, but it expanded rapidly in the U.S. in 2020 when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) relaxed regulations to make room for hospitals and practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. This led CMS to launch the Acute Inpatient Care at Home Waiver Program that same year, which increased access to care by providing reimbursement to hospitals.

Globally, the family hospital is also growing. More countries are adopting the model, and new associations are emerging around the world to support it. A conference dedicated to the model, the biennial World Family Hospital Congress (WHAHC), is gearing up for its fourth edition—to be held in Vienna, Austria, March 27-29, 2025—which is expected to be the largest yet.

The 2023 World Family Hospital Congress attracted 670 participants from 34 countries.

‘Pushing boundaries’

The target audience for WHAHC is “from healthcare practitioners to policymakers and technologists, and anyone interested in pushing the boundaries of healthcare,” said Maria Georgieva, program and attendance manager at Kenes Group, a professional conference organizer based in Geneva, Switzerland, which developed and organized WHAHC. The congress includes dozens of scientific sessions exploring the latest innovations, research findings, and practical implementation that advance this particular model of care. The congress also includes an exhibition space that showcases a variety of products, from medical devices and tools to technology platforms.

“The main purpose of establishing the first and only international forum dedicated to HaH is to create a platform where health practitioners, policymakers and technical experts can exchange knowledge, network and advance the HaH model,” Georgieva said. Convening.

Prior to the first WHAHC 2019 in Madrid, the HaH field had no formal community or even a formal definition. Since then, the WHAHC has achieved both of these goals and more. “WHAHC 2019 marked the first time that HaH practitioners from different countries and even neighboring cities came together, which greatly increased confidence and cooperation, and ultimately led to the formation of an international community,” Georgieva said.

It is no surprise, then, that some of the most talked-about activities at the first event were those designed for participants to connect with one another through one-on-one meetings and campfire discussions. Other popular experiences included the “Demo Home,” a live scenario showcasing different solutions for treating patients at home, and the opportunity to see first-hand examples of the Spanish HaH model, including visits to hospitals and patients’ homes.

During the hospital tour, “local practitioners explained the administrative aspects of the job—how they organize schedules and home visits, what equipment they have and how they store it,” Georgieva said. Attendees toured the hospital’s on-site home care center, where patients are referred from the emergency department and then sent home, or in some countries, only after an initial hospital admission.

Since the first congress, which won silver in the Brand Experience – Healthcare category at Eventex’s 2020 Global Event Awards, WHAHC has grown significantly. “The 2023 congress is much bigger than previous ones, both in terms of the number of delegates and the number of sessions and posters,” Georgieva said. WHAHC 2023, held in Barcelona, ​​attracted 670 registrants (620 in person and 50 online), compared to just over 400 attendees at previous congresses. Georgieva said a record number of session proposals had been submitted for the upcoming WHAHC 2025, and her team expects around 1,000 attendees from 40 countries.

This growth has motivated the organizers to continually expand the WHAHC’s offerings. So far, they’ve built a dedicated online community and learning portal that’s open 24/7. At WHAHC 2023, they’re launching the HaH Technology Summit. Focusing on the latest advances in HaH technology, the summit aims to bring together top experts from academia and industry “to discuss opportunities to embed technology into HaH to help programs around the world scale up and achieve the highest quality and best patient/clinician experience,” Georgieva said. She added that they plan to launch more new products at upcoming WHAHC conferences, particularly elements that will allow attendees to further personalize their experience.

“Anyone interested in any aspect of HaH—from clinicians to regulators, payers, technology companies—anyone interested in home care should come here,” says Bruce Leff, M.D., co-chair of the WHAHC and director of the Center for Gerontology Research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Here you’ll meet your peers and find the best in HaH practice, research, training, and teaching.”

Health Trends

Experts say HaH will continue to grow because of the many benefits this healthcare model offers. In the long run, HaH could reduce the cost of care.
According to the American Hospital Association, time The report noted that a growing body of research shows that treatment outcomes are as good or better than if patients received hospital care. Time magazine also noted that another advantage of HaH is the ability to provide care to underserved or remote communities. A recent article in Time magazine Medical Innovation Citing McKinsey & Company research, which suggests that by 2025, up to $265 billion worth of care services (25% of total care costs for Medicare fee-for-service and Medicare Advantage plan beneficiaries) could be moved from traditional institutions to the home without loss of quality or accessibility.

However, at least for the United States, the future of HaH appears uncertain, as the CMS waiver program (which provides regulatory flexibility for hospitals to provide inpatient-level care in patients’ homes and receive reimbursement) is set to expire at the end of 2024 if Congress does not grant an extension. Before the waiver program, there were approximately 20 HaH programs in the United States, while after the waiver program was implemented, more than 300 hospitals in 129 health systems in 37 states are implementing HaH programs.

Jennifer N. Sethers yes convened.

On the Internet

For more information about WHAHC, visit whahc.kenes.com.