Talking Healthcare

International Women’s Day is celebrated on the 8th of March each year – a campaign to raise awareness of gender inequity issues. At the IHF, our Women in Leadership Forum is joining this global conversation with a particular focus on inequities in healthcare leadership. In this episode, Lucy Clements, Health Integration Policy Lead from NHS Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care System, UK, sat down wi...

The International Hospital Federation Awards dates back to 2015, when the programme was launched at the 39th IHF World Hospital Congress in Chicago. The IHF Awards have been recognizing excellence in hospitals and healthcare organizations around the world. Last year, a new category was launched to recognize hospitals and health service providers who demonstrated excellence or outstanding achieveme...

Since 2019, the IHF has offered an annual program for selected young executives to improve their management and leadership skills, and to network internationally. These young leaders are shaping the healthcare delivery of the future, and every year the skills and ideas that they demonstrate throughout the programme are truly impressive. In this episode, Leandro Luis sat down with fellow YEL alumni...

Net zero in healthcare: how is it possible? What is the role of current and future healthcare leaders in driving the sustainability agenda? What are the bold and collective actions to take in line with the Paris Agreement and the UN SDGs, to minimize environmental impact and transform services? In this episode, Sonia Roschnik, Director of the Geneva Sustainability Centre sat down with Stephanie Al...

In this special episode of the IHF's Talking Healthcare podcast series, participants in the IHF's Young Executive Leaders 2022 programme explore how international health organizations can facilitate the access of refugees to healthcare services. “At a time when 1 in every 88 people on earth has been forced to flee, we all believe that providing support when these crises happen and, afterwards, fac...

The healthcare workforce is the cornerstone of the health system in every country and are dependent on the availability, accessibility, and quality of healthcare workers to reach the highest standards of health provision. In this episode, Linda Clark, Director sat down with Professor Henriette Neumeyer and discussed healthcare workforce-- sharing insights into the scale of the problem, and the typ...

The 45th IHF World Hospital Congress is a unique global forum that brings together IHF Members and leaders of hospitals, health services, and healthcare organizations. Providing an invaluable networking opportunity for leaders in healthcare, the themes chosen for each congress focus on the biggest trends and common issues in the sector. Expert-led sessions are complemented by workshops, break...

Violence against healthcare has been a recurrent problem over the years across the globe. The COVID-19 pandemic has appeared to worsen the situation, with a documented increase of incidents in many countries Since 2015 the International Hospital Federation is strongly involved in the Healthcare in Danger initiative of the International Movement of the Red Cross and Red Crescent advocating for the...

One of the biggest ‘service shifts’ in the healthcare sector since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the widespread adoption of telehealth. As well as being a viable option to provide continuity of care and treatment to patients during the coronavirus pandemic, telehealth has transformed how health systems can respond to chronic workforce shortages and optimise their clinical capacities....

COVID-19 created tremendous pressure on health systems across the world, leading policy-makers to offer hospitals new flexibilities for digital health to fill gaps in capacity. This episode features the CEO of Digital Healthcare at Aster DM Healthcare, a global health system spanning India and the Middle East region. Listeners will learn about Aster's efforts to internalize digital processes (e.g....

On March 11th, 2020 a global pandemic was declared. Almost overnight, people went from buzzing around cities to staying in their own homes, under lockdown. Many worldwide healthcare systems mandated the cancellation of non-essential or elective services and most healthcare organizations pivoted to virtual care options, where possible. Maple is a Canadian telehealth company that predates the pandem...

COVID-19 disrupted operations at hospitals across the world, requiring managers to rapidly implement new digital tools and transformations to support changes in system operations and service delivery. This episode offers insights about how the Cleveland Clinic—a global health system with facilities in the US, UK, UAE, and Canada—implemented “years worth of automation and digitization in just 2 wee...

Most countries put forth significant efforts to identify positive COVID-19 cases, recommend quarantine practices, and aim to flatten infection curves in an effort to keep hospital intensive care units afloat.  But what happens to the people who contracted COVID-19 but then recovered from the illness? This episode describes Post-Covid Care Clinics in Portugal. Digital technologies such as wear...

During the combat of COVID-19, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has leveraged innovation and technology to respond quickly to the fast-changing pandemic situation. Making use of the geo-fencing technology, the locally developed “StayHomeSafe” home quarantine system was launched in March 2020 and monitored over 600,000 people arriving in Hong Kong during their mandatory...

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged health authorities and hospitals around the world; from swab testing to contact tracing, from quarantine management to shifts in hospital operational management. Many traditional processes and tools have been inadequate in tackling these challenges, which has led to the rapid development of new technological solutions and related procedures. In this episode you...

Working towards eradication of COVID-19 is a global effort and while many countries have made great gains in vaccination coverage, it is important to recognize that access to medicine and medical record keeping is often more challenging in developing nations. This episode highlights eVAS, an end-to-end digital vaccination administration system that has been developed specifically for use in develo...

Epidemiologists around the world have raced to try to understand the behaviour of the novel coronavirus. Thinking ahead to how this virus may impact the world in years to come, humankind must begin to appreciate the consequences of our own decisions in the fight against COVID-19. This episode shines a light on the intersection between academic research and policy-making. We speak to Dr. Fyodor Kon...

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, health and technology industry employees all over the world worked hard to rapidly stand up pandemic management systems. In a period of just 10 days, Nearform developed the Covid Tracker mobile app to lead contact tracing efforts in Ireland. In this episode, not only do we learn about app development and use in Ireland, but we are also introduced to the...

Through 2020, everyone all over the world awaited the development of a lifesaving COVID-19 vaccine. When vaccines were approved for distribution, a clear public health message was heard globally: get whatever vaccine you can, as soon as you can . Distribution strategies varied from country to country and in Canada, individuals could book a vaccination appointment through multiple avenues - directl...

For the 5th and final episode of the 44th IHF World Hospital Congress podcast series, Walt Vernon and Dr. Elizabeth Baca sat down to share how we can achieve and build sustainable healthcare environments. They also shared knowledge on the impacts of Climate Change and discussed the best-in-class solution towards reducing carbon emissions in the healthcare sector. About the Speakers: Walt Vern...

For the 4th episode of this podcast series, we have invited Richard Stubbs and Dr. Anne Snowdon to sit down and discuss how healthcare systems and services have fundamentally changed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and how digitally enabled healthcare is now a mainstay of many hospital services around the world. About the Speakers: Dr. Anne Snowdon is the Chief Scientific Research Officer for HIM...

For the 3rd episode of the WHC Podcast series, Thomas Cueni, Director General of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations, shares light on vaccine management during a global pandemic. He further emphasized how the collaboration between government and pharmaceutical companies is different for the COVID-19 vaccines. Thomas Cueni is the Director-General of the I...

For the 2nd episode of this series, our guest Bertrand Levrat, Chief Executive Officer at Geneva University Hospital (HUG), shares his experiences in leading his organization during the COVID-19 pandemic. He also talks about the qualities a leader should have in order to effectively manage a public health crisis. About the Speaker: Bertrand Levrat Chief Executive Officer at Geneva University Hospi...

Nurses are recognized internationally for their everyday contributions and in fighting COVID-19. Listen to Lord Nigel Crisp and Robyn Begley as they discuss the impact of global nursing leadership initiatives-- such as the Nursing Now Campaign and the Nightingale Challenge.