NRP 74 Synthesis Conference
The NRP 74 Synthesis Conference was held on 11 and 12 April 2022 in collaboration with the Wennberg International Collaborative.
On 11 and 12 April 2022, the synthesis conference of NRP 74 took place at the KKL in Lucerne. The conference was held jointly with the Wennberg International Collaborative (WIC), which had already launched its WIC Spring Policy Meeting on 10 April.
The conference included four focal points:
- People in the context of their lives
- People in the care network
- People shaping health care policies
- People from research, politics and practice in dialogue
NRP 74 project teams presented the results of their research projects along those four focal points. Members of the Steering Committee presented the resulting overarching findings of the research programme. These were complemented by the perspectives of international researchers and important stakeholder groups.
Philippe Luchsinger, President of mfe Haus- und Kinderärzte Schweiz, emphasised the importance of collaboration at the "joints" of the health system, i.e., between the individual health care sectors as well as between the political level, the management level and the level of health care providers and patients. Various NRP 74 projects showed ways in which this can be achieved.
Mirjam Weber, member of the Executive Board of the Swiss Cancer League, explained that the health care system must adapt to the patients and not vice versa. Various NRP 74 projects showed how the health care system and the - very individual - situations of patients can be better coordinated.
Thomas Szucs, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Helsana Group, pointed out the great benefit of insurance data for a sustainable and efficient advancement of health care. This "real world" data should therefore be shared more and made available to research in a low-threshold manner - as is already the case for NRP 74 projects.
Michael Jordi, General Secretary of the Swiss Conference of Health Directors, noted the practical relevance of the NRP 74 results for the cantons. For the future, he expressed the hope that the personal exchange and institutional dialogue between science, politics and practice will continue.
Herbert Brunold, head of the FOPH's Evaluation and Research Unit, emphasised that they would "keep the flag of health services research" flying over the next few years in order to contribute to an evidence-based health care system.
Finally, Milo Puhan, President of the NRP 74 Steering Committee, spoke about the future of health services research in Switzerland. A working group consisting of the NRP 74, the Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), the Swiss Learning Health System (SLHS), the Swiss Personalized Health Network (SPHN), the FOPH, the GDK-CDS and the Obsan is driving forward various activities to secure the achievements of the NRP 74 and to further strengthen health services research in Switzerland. For example, the Swiss National Science Foundation SNSF, Innosuisse and the FOPH are members of the consortium that is applying for the so-called "EU Partnership on Transforming Health and Care Systems (THCS)" within the framework of Horizon Europe.
The results of the conference will be included in the final report of the programme, which will be prepared by the NRP 74 Steering Committee this year. The preliminary recommendations presented at the conference will also be revised. The synthesis report is expected to be available in December 2022.
Selected presentations from the synthesis conference are published on the conference website.