Hospital World 2011: Strategic Options for the Hospital Market

For this edition an important effort was made to have an overview of the healthcare industry in BRIC Countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Although healthcare varies within and between countries, it was clear that the industry is very vibrant in each of the countries.  In countries like China and Russia, the public sector is still dominant in health care services but there have been interesting trends in increasing private sector involvement. In Brazil and India private providers are clearly leading the market, driving innovation and improving efficiency in their service delivery. 

Although there are many changes in BRIC countries, this does not mean that more matured markets are remaining stagnant. The Middle East, which has faced recent political instability in some nations, is still an active market with major projects in the works and under way. In the European countries healthcare organizations have been functioning in an environment of public expenditure cuts, and as is the case in France and the U.K., the private sector is developing itself in niche markets. Further development for all nations is led by innovative service delivery that focuses on the reduction of costs to maintain positive margins for providers.

In addition to very well documented presentations, the audience was also able to benefit from rounds of discussion between key stakeholders from around the world.

Last, but not least, some presentations covered various innovations impacting the organization of service delivery. Although there is much promise for the role of new technologies in healthcare, more than ever, providers need to focus on cost containment and efficient uses of human resources.

These highlights offer just a flavor of what was presented during this conference and to do justice to the excellent information that was shared by the presenters, we invite you to look on our website at: http://www.ihf-fih.org/IHF-Events/Past-Events/MCC-Congress.