In commemoration of its tenth anniversary, Outcomes’10 presented the book “The 2009-2019 period in health care: a prodigious decade”.
In order to reflect on the steps taken, and what is still to come, the book “The 2009-2019 period in health care: a prodigious decade” has been produced. Its editor, Luis Lizán, Director of Outcomes’10, has been accompanied by experts of great national relevance, such as Dr. Esteban Jódar (Head of the Department of Endocrinology and Clinical Nutrition at the Quirón Salud University Hospital in Madrid and Professor of Endocrinology at the European University), Dr. Alfredo Rodríguez (Head of the Neurology Service at Cruces University Hospital and Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of the Basque Country-EHU Madrid), Dr. Rafael Bengoa (Former Director of Health Systems at the WHO, and Former Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs of the Basque Goverment), Dr. Caridad Pontes (Manager of Pharmacotherapeutic Harmonisation at the Servei Catala de la Salut and Associate Professor of the Department of Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona), Dr. Manuel García Goñi (Professor of Applied Economics in the Department of Applied Economics, Structure and History of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid), or Arantxa Unda (CEO of Sigesa and MBA from Harvard Business School, who was named in 2017 by Forbes magazine the most influential person under 30 in the field of science and health).
These are just a few examples of the remarkable authors who have participated in this work.
Their opinions have been collected in 23 chapters that have highlighted the transcendental transformations that our system has undergone in the last decade, such as the evolution of the hospital pharmacist role, the authorization and evaluation of drugs with a high economic impact, the appearance of big data, the implementation of immuno-oncology in cancer therapy, the new drugs for multiple sclerosis, diabetes or psoriasis, the success of drugs for hepatitis C, and the progressive increase in survival in multiple myeloma, to name just a few relevant examples.
These topics, along with others of interest, were discussed during the presentation of the book, which took place on June 27th in Jaime I University (UJI) in Castellón, at a conference table composed by:
- Dr. José Luis Llisterri, president of SEMERGEN
- Prof. Juan Vicente Sánchez, Professor of Physiology and Director of the Department of Medicine at the UJI
- Dr. José Luis Poveda, Head of the Hospital Pharmacy Service at Hospital La Fe
- Sr. Alejandro Toledo, President of the Renal Foundation ALCER Spain and Former President of the General Patients Alliance
- Dr. Luis Lizán, director of Outcomes’10
Statements by the Bureau
During the presentation of the book, the members of the conference table shared with the attendees their point of view on the changes that have taken place during this decade in their respective areas of knowledge, as well as the future trends.
Dr. José Luis Poveda described the journey of the hospital pharmacist in the last decade and thanked the effort that the national health system has made to provide hospital pharmacy services with a greater number of professionals and better economic resources. Regarding the role of the hospital pharmacist, he highlighted his ability to focus on patient health outcomes.
Professor Juan Vicente Sánchez stressed the necessary relationship between biomedical research and health outcomes, since the two cannot coexist without each other.
Dr. José Luis Llisterri was somehow sceptical about the advances in Primary Care during this decade, due to the lack of means and involvement of the authorities to achieve a first level of quality. In order to face these difficulties, he proposed to carry out some actions such as adapting the professional staff to the socio-demographic reality or leading the management of the processes of the chronic patients within the health system, among others.
Finally, Dr. Luis Lizán and Mr. Alejandro Toledo focused the discussion on the patient, showing what this prodigious decade had brought: they highlighted the medical, diagnosis and therapy advances, but the central part of their speech was focused on the change the health system has experienced, placing the patient and the results that really matter to the patient as their central axis. Although on this last point, as the speakers pointed out, there is still a long way to be travelled.
“Without any doubt, it is always necessary to take a break, look at the road travelled, think about past difficulties and achievements, and without delay resume the path to reach the ultimate goal, which is none other than better progressive levels of general welfare, survival and quality of life for most of the population”. Extract from the prologue, Luis Lizán, Director of Outcomes’10.
