AmCham Slovakia

FACTS & FIGURES 

Imagine a world where the usage of healthcare data and electronic health records, digital tools, telemedicine, and health apps are becoming more prevalent, allowing for better patient care and data-driven decision-making where the rise of the Internet of Medical Things enables patients to actively participate in their own health management. Envision further, wearable devices, remote monitoring, and personalized disease management empower individuals to take charge of their well-being and advances in genomics and precision medicine allow for tailored treatments based on an individual’s genetic makeup. These scenarios are not speculative, they are today's realities and tomorrow's inevitable challenges.   

WHAT TO START WITH? 

Health systems around the globe will face 21st-century challenges such as aging populations, rising costs of health care delivered, challenges of timely access and application of the latest practices, collection, protection, processing, and use of health data, and shortages of skilled workforce. Compared to Western countries, Slovakia faces particular specificities such as low participation in preventive check-ups around 37% as opposed to 70% in Western countries, below-average healthy life expectancy 57 years as opposed to 64 years as an average in EU countries, low public finances for healthcare in terms of the country's GDP around 7% compared to 10% in EU countries or high rates of avoidable deaths compared to Western countries (where Slovakia, among EU countries, has long been at the bottom of the rankings). New approaches to healthcare are being applied around the world, with innovative solutions and practices being experimented with. It is up to us how we seize this opportunity and how we will be successful in reforming the Slovak health system, for which reform is essential. At the Health Day during the Festival of Future, we will present new perspectives that should help us in these endeavors, while highlighting what is at stake if we do not make the necessary reforms and investments.  

WHAT WILL BE OUR FOCUS? 

• What are the common challenges that health systems around the world faces and how can Slovakia proactively prepare for them? 
• What strategies can be employed to secure adequate funding and establish an effective governance model, ensuring a more predictable budgetary environment? 
• How to benefit from the potential of health data and digitalization in Slovakia, despite the shortcomings of the current infrastructure, legislation or lack of personal in this area compared to the frontrunners in this field?  
• What impact will the new EU laws and regulations have on the quality and accessibility of healthcare and treatment in Slovakia? How to achieve regulation that will promote innovation while protecting patient rights in healthcare?  
• How can we identify the right, effective, and achievable path to better healthcare in the future in the areas that affect the Slovak population the most (cardiological, oncological, respiratory, or neurological diseases)?  
• How to address the shortage of skilled healthcare personnel, as this is a global problem facing all countries, not just developed ones?  

During the event we will try to highlight successful examples and practices from abroad that can be an inspiration for Slovak public administration and actors in the field of health care. Numerous sectoral experts, policymakers, and key stakeholders from the private and public sectors will have an opportunity to be inspired and elaborate on what is possible to achieve in Slovakia in the future.