Editorial
Dear Readers, dear Friends,
COVID-19 continues to take a toll on all of us. While there are positive developments, such as the availability of several vaccines developed in record tie, it will take a while before lock-downs are eased and work and life return to a somewhat more “normal” situation. At current, the C-19 toll on society remains visible mostly in the number of infections, hospital admissions, ICU utilization and case fatality rates. These figures are also the most visible ones in existing C-19 dashboards. However, as we are all aware, C-19 affects all areas of public and private life and the burden on health professionals, but also teachers and in particular children is significant. The choice of indicators to assess the evolution and management of the C-19 epidemic should therefore be reflected carefully and we are delighted to embark on such a project together with the HealthPros Network and WHO. We are further content that our project on improving workplace health promotion that we planned even before C-19 is now starting, given health professionals the opportunity to introduce health promoting changes to their organizations.
New integrated care region in Hesse / Germany
The immediate future will bring further challenges for health systems. Health system managers will need to balance scarce resources to address old and new challenges: “old” challenges embracing efficiencies in care organization and the burden of chronic disease, “new” challenges including yet unknown demands on health care systems due to secondary effects of C-19 and the impact of foregone care (elective surgeries being cancelled, cancer screenings delayed, routine health check-ups missed etc). In addition, the aftermath of widening inequalities during various lock-down periods which inevitably will manifest their effects in the coming months and years. In this context, the need to better integrate care pathways and address population health factors seems more relevant than ever. With the support of the B. Braun Melsungen AG we are therefore delighted to have won a partner to establish a new integrated care region and to further invest in our health care digitization strategy.
New initiative: Self-Management Europe
In managing complex health issues, the role of citizens, (digital) health literacy and self-management skills will be a key to success. We are thrilled to establish the new reference centre Self-Management Europe together with our partners NIVEL, Avedis Donabedian Institute and the European Patient Forum. We are also proud to continue our work in implementing the Patient-reported Indicators Survey for the OECD to give patients a central role in the evaluation of health services.
Finally, if these challenges were not enough, they may appear small in comparison to challenges associated with the climate crisis. We believe that the health care sector can make an important contribution to reducing climate impact and are pleased that the new Health Promoting Hospital and Health Services Standards now include items addressing this major topic. With all sectors of society realizing their role, the health risks stemming from climate change can be mediated.
We hope you will enjoy reading about our new projects addressing these and other challenges!
Sincerely yours,
Oliver Gröne, PhD, Vice Chairman of the Board at OptiMedis
Complete issue as PDF file
Contents
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About OptiMedis and our projects |
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Promoting health and connecting sectors: “Healthy Schwalm-Eder District+” breaks ground! |
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The “DIGILO” digital platform will help you find what you need |
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OptiMedis, vdek, and DNGfK support training for occupational health in hospitals and care facilities |
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Common practice in the region and the individual patient: FORTA-EPI and MyFORTA uncover potential for improvement |
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Self-Management Europe – A new initiative to support patients |
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HPH publishes new health promotion standards |
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Large OECD study on the care of chronically ill patients – OptiMedis is part of the international PaRIS-consortium |
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At a glance |
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OptiMedis is one of the top employers in the German medium-sized business sector |
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eJourney: OptiMedis AG’s successful integrated care networks in Germany |
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Helping decision makers making informed judgements: COMPAR-EU decision-making tools |
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Media Reports |
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From rural Germany, Integrated Care grows into a global Model: “Health Affairs” article focuses on OptiMedis model |
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Publications |
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Events, where you can meet us |
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