AmCham Slovakia

Healthy Future Conference 1/2

Healthy Future Conference 2/2

Welcome to the Health Day at the Festival of Future! 

This day is about exploring how emerging megatrends and increasing demands for healthcare are shaping the future of health systems, healthcare services, and products. We will take you on a journey to a healthy future, highlighting both opportunities and challenges ahead. 

Join our reputable experts, decision-makers, and professionals as we delve into modern approaches to healthcare strategies, health data management, legislative approaches, and practical examples of using technologies such as AI and robotics. We will also discuss innovative financial management methods and the importance of public-private partnerships.

Engage with experts, participate in inspirational discussions, and brainstorm new ideas as we collectively navigate the evolving modern world of healthcare to benefit patients in the 21st century. On the occasion of the 30th anniversary, in the light of megatrends, let’s shape the future together toward more accessible, quality, and patient-oriented healthcare services for everyone!

AGENDA 

8:00 – REGISTRATION AND NETWORKING / CONNECTING MINDS, FORGING FUTURES

9:00 – OPENING OF THE HEALTHY FUTURE CONFERENCE DAY (SK)

9:10 –  REALISTIC VISION OF SLOVAK HEALTHCARE / FIRESIDE CHAT (SK)

9:30 –OPENING KEYNOTE PRESENTATION / PRESENTATION OF THE REPORT "FUTURE OF HEALTHCARE: THE OXFORD PRESCRIPTION" PREPARED BY CITI GPS: GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES & SOLUTIONS AND THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY (EN)

9:45 – INSPIRATIONAL EXAMPLES OF HEALTH POLICY APPROACHES AND USE OF HEALTH DATA

PRESENTATION OF THE "HEALTHCARE READINESS INDEX 2023" / PRESENTATION (SK)

DISCUSSION ABOUT THE OECD REPORT "AI IN HEALTH: HUGE POTENTIAL, HUGE RISKS" / FIRESIDE CHAT (EN)

WHAT ROLE CAN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP PLAY IN STRENGTHENING RESEARCH IN HEALTHCARE? / PRESENTATION (EN)

PRESENTATION OF THE PROJECT "HOW WONDERFUL YOU ARE HERE" / PRESENTATION (SK)

10:30 – HOW WILL THE EU HEALTHCARE LEGISLATION STEER THE FUTURE DEVELOPMENT, ACCESSIBILITY, AND QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE SERVICES, DRUGS, AND PRODUCTS? / PANEL DISCUSSION (SK)

11:00 – COFFEE BREAK

11:20 HEALTH SYSTEM PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT / PRESENTATION (SK)

11:30 – HOW MORE RESOURCES AND PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT IN HEALTHCARE CAN HELP IMPROVE QUALITY FOR PATIENTS IN SLOVAKIA? / PRESENTATION (SK)

11:50 – SUSTAINABLE FINANCING OF HEALTHCARE - WHAT MEASURES CAN BE USED TO MOVE TOWARDS BETTER PREDICTABILITY AND STABILITY OF HEALTH FINANCING? / PANEL DISCUSSION (EN and SK)

12:40 – HOW CAN NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND MODERN APPROACHES IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF HEALTHCARE / Practical examples  

THE FUTURE ROLE OF PHARMACY / PRESENTATION (SK)

INTRODUCING ROBOTIC SURGERY ASSISTANT TECHNOLOGY / PRESENTATION (EN)

THE BENEFITS OF USING AI IN OPHTHALMOLOGY / PRESENTATION (SK)

13:05 – LUNCH AT WERK RESTAURANT

13:50 - HOW DO WE COMPARE PRACTICALLY TO THE DUTCH, GERMAN OR UK HEALTH SYSTEM? / 1on3 CHAT (SK)

14:15 – WELL-MANAGED AND EFFICIENT PATIENT PATHWAY AND MODERN HOSPITALS – WHAT DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON? / PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION

VISION OF THE MODERN HOSPITAL OF 21st CENTURY IN BANSKÁ BYSTRICA / PRESENTATION (SK)

PROJECT OF THE NATIONAL COMPREHENSIVE ONCOLOGY CENTER / PRESENTATION (SK)

14:35 – PATIENT’S PATHWAY IN THE HOSPITALS OF THE 21ST CENTURY / PANEL DISCUSSION (SK)

15:30 - NETWORKING

Translation will be provided by Glocco.

After the main stage programe, join us for the Slovak premiere of the acclaimed documentary Beyond Zero, followed by an intriguing panel discussion. It’s an inspiring exploration of sustainability you won't want to miss. 

SPEAKERS BIOs (in alphabetical order)

TOMÁŠ ALSCHER - He graduated from the Faculty of International Relations of the University of Economics in Bratislava. In 2016 he graduated from the Faculty of Public Health of the Slovak University of Health Sciences in Bratislava. Between 2006 and 2016 he held the position of managing director in several private companies engaged in various activities, which enabled him to acquire managerial skills in the field of management, financial management, marketing, HR and communication. Since 1 July 2012, he has served as Deputy Director for Economics and Economic and Technical Activities, and later as Economic Director at the National Cancer Institute. From 2014 to 2018, as a member of the Local Council of the Municipality of Bratislava - Ružinov, he was involved in the Public Administration and Finance Agenda. On 15 July 2018, he was appointed to the position of a member of the statutory body - Director General at the National Cancer Institute. Since 1 October 2022, he has served as a member of the statutory body - Director.

VLADIMÍR BALÁŽ - Vladimír is a Head of the Urology Clinic of Slovak Medical University University Hospital with Polyclinic F. D. Roosevelt Banská Bystrica, chief expert of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic for urology. For many years he worked in the management of FNsP FD Roosevelt Banská Bystrica (deputy for LPS, director). His main interests are innovations, robotic surgery (Head of the Centre for Robotic Surgery in Banská Bystrica) and transplantation medicine (Head of the Transplantation Centre at FNsP FDR Banská Bystrica). Since 2012 member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic and current Chairman of the Committee on Health Care.

MICHAL BIZNAR - Michal is in charge of communication at the UNICEF Emergency Response Office in Slovakia. He oversees communication outputs and, with his team, manages communication campaigns to get the message out to the world. Prior to joining UNICEF, Michal worked in communications at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, where he addressed the topic of disinformation and building societal resilience.

GABRIELA CZANNER - Gabriela is a Reader in Statistics for Healthcare at the Department of Applied Mathematics at Liverpool John Moores University, as well as Docent Habilitation in Applied Informatics at Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies at Slovak University of Technology. Her research focus is advanced statistics for decision support, particularly with applications to personalised medicine, public health, ophthalmology, neuroscience, cancer epidemiology and medical imaging. She has worked as a Lecturer at the University of Liverpool (2012-2018), a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Warwick (2010-2012, 2007-2008), the University of Oxford (2009-2010), Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (2004-2007). She obtained PhD in Statistics at the University of Pittsburgh, USA (2004), an MA in Economics at the University of Pittsburgh, USA (1999) and an MSc in Mathematical Statistics, Probability and Computer Science at Comenius University in Slovakia in 1994. She has been the principal investigator or co-investigator in projects of value £7.8Mil from various research councils in UK and Europe. Among many projects, her research group has developed statistical methods for the diagnosis of glaucoma from retinal images, and early identification of conversion to drug resistant epilepsy. As an independent statistician, she overseas data collection and analysis for various national clinical trials in UK, she is a chartered statistician (CStat from 2012), and she serves in prioritisation panels for UK councils as well as European Commission in area of digital health.

KATARÍNA DANKOVÁ - Katarína is a graduate of the University of Economics in Bratislava with a focus on international business. After finishing EUBA, she took a doctoral course study at the University of St. Elizabeth and specialized study focused on management in healthcare. She has been working in the healthcare industry for 15 years with a focus on medical aids. Currently, Katarína has been working as an executive director at Slovak Association of Suppliers of Medical Devices (SK+MED) for more than 8 years, where she works to improve the status and functioning of companies with a focus on sale and distribution of medical aids on the market.

ANA DODEA - Ana Dodea is a healthcare business leader with more than 20 years of experience, working across Europe and MEA. With a degree in political and public administration sciences, she spend her first decades of her career as a trusted advisor to global companies from a wide range of industries - energy, steel, financial services, healthcare, technology, aviation and infrastructure. She has been leading multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary teams and over the last seven years she chose to dedicate herself to healthcare, focusing on enabling access to medical innovation for patients by employing a collaborative and solution driven approach. Ana is a strong supporter of partnership and dialogue as the only way to respond to the complex challenges in healthcare today. A Romanian national she moved to Slovakia in 2023 and she is proud to be working for MSD, a truly global and local healthcare leader. Reflecting her interest in transformational leadership, Ana also has a master degree in change from INSEAD.

VICKY HELLON - Vicky is the Research Community Manager for the Turing-Roche Partnership. She will be working closely with both organisations to build an engaged and sustainable community around the partnership, with a focus on supporting researchers to embrace and embed Open Science practices. She is part of the Research Community Management team within the Tools, Practices and Systems Research Programme. Vicky has a BSc in Biomedical Science from the University of Sheffield and previously had roles in Open Access publishing at Springer Nature and F1000Research. At F1000Research she worked in researcher outreach, particularly in Bioinformatics communities and also delivered Open Access publishing services for funders and institutions, most notably as project lead for HRB Open Research and NIHR Open Research. More recently she worked at Health Data Research UK, building a community around the newly launched Health Data Research Innovation Gateway, a portal to help researchers discover and request access to UK health datasets.

MAREK HOLKA - Marek is a partner of the Slovak full-service business law firm ČECHOVÁ & PARTNERS. His career has focused on the pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, and in competition law. He specialises in market access strategies and the pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products, drafting and negotiating managed entry agreements. His advisory work includes the distribution of medicinal products and medical devices through various channels. He is skilled in structuring distribution models and drafting and negotiating distribution agreements. His experience also includes the strategic setup of pharmaceutical advertising, educational programmes, disease awareness campaigns, and patient support programmes. In the competition law area, Marek has participated in several high-profile cartel cases before the Slovak competition authority and the courts, as well as in numerous merger notifications. He regularly advises on antitrust compliance. Since 2024, Marek has been serving as vice-chair of the healthcare committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Slovakia. Marek regularly publishes and speaks on life sciences and antitrust related topic in both domestic and international professional events.

PAVEL HROBOŇ – Pavel is a physician and economist, studied medicine at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague and healthcare management at Harvard University. He served for 3 years as Deputy Minister of Health responsible for health insurance, medicines and medical devices. From 2002 to 2005 he worked for the General Health Insurance Company of the Czech Republic as a consultant and director of strategy. From 1998 to 2002, he worked as a consultant for the international consulting firm McKinsey & Company in several European countries on projects in the field of healthcare and financial services. Pavel is a lecturer in health economics at Charles University. Since 2022 he has been a member of the National Economic Council of the Government of the Czech Republic. At Advance Institute he is responsible for strategic management and client relations. As an expert guarantor, he is mainly responsible for analysis and research of healthcare and insurance systems, strategic management and information technology in healthcare.

MARTINA HROMÁDKOVÁ - PharmDr. Martina Hromádková is the director of the Department of Pharmacy at the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. With over 10 years at the Ministry, she has been leading the department since 2018, focusing on state drug policy, legal regulations, and professional activities in the field of pharmacy. She previously worked in various positions in a pharmaceutical company and has a background in conceptual activity related to narcotic and psychotropic substances. Martina is also a member of the Council of Europe committee for medicines and pharmaceutical care.

JAROSLAV KYPR - Jaroslav Kypr has been the Chief Operating Officer of the Dr. Max pharmacy chain in Slovakia since 2020. He has more than ten years of experience as CFO and five years in project management. He is also the chairman of the Association of Pharmacy Chain Operators in Slovakia, an organisation dedicated to representing and defending the interests of its members with state authorities, legal entities, the public and international partners. At the HEALTH CHECK DAY conference organised by AmCham Slovakia, Jaroslav will discuss the future role of pharmacies and pharmacists. His insights will contribute to the ongoing dialogue within AmCham that aims to shape the future of this important sector. The Association of Chain Pharmacy Operators is also a founding member of the European Federation of Pharmacy Chain, which strives for optimal conditions for the growth of pharmacy services in the Central European region. 

MIRIAM LAPUNÍKOVÁ - Miriam is the director of the University Hospital with Polyclinic F. D. Roosevelt Banská Bystrica. She has been working at the University Hospital since 2005, when she started as a clerk of the economics department. She worked her way up to the position of director through several specialized economic positions. She is a graduate of Public Economics and Administration with a specialization in Healthcare Management at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Business and Economics. She obtained her MBA degree at the Sales Manager Academy in Bratislava. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of State Hospitals.

PETER LEDNICKÝ - Peter is the CEO of the international holding Penta Hospitals International, which is the largest private health care provider in Central Europe, operating in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. Since November 2023, he also leads the Bory Hospital. In the past, he held the position of CEO of Unilabs Slovakia. 25 years ago, he was at the birth of Alpha medical, which gradually under his leadership became the biggest laboratory network in Central and Eastern Europe, and in 2017 became part of the international Unilabs network with Switzerland.

ANDREA LETANOVSKÁ - Andrea is an anaesthesiologist, intensivist and emergency physician with many years of experience. Today, she leades the Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the National Cancer Institute in Bratislava, focusing on oncology patients. In the past, she also worked in the emergency medical service at the University Hospital. Her main expertise is the care of critically ill cancer patients, management of serious complications of anticancer treatment and perioperative intensive management in oncology. She teaches undergraduate and postgraduate students, currently as an assistant professor for undergraduate medical students in the subject of anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine I. KAIM LF UK and Expert guarantor of the specialisation study programme Emergency Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine Slovak Medical University Bratislava. As a forensic expert she assesses cases in the fields of Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine. She was a member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic Committee for Healthcare, where she participated in the development of legislation and the setting of the functioning of the network of health care facilities in Slovakia. She graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Comenius University in Bratislava and has specialisations in Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine and Emergency Medicine. She defended her PhD degree at the Surgical Clinic of the Faculty of Surgery of the Slovak University of Health Sciences in Bratislava with the topic of management of polytraumatized patients on admission to hospital. Previously, she was an advisor to the World Health Organization for the assessment of crisis preparedness of emergency health care systems (EHCS) in Europe, she worked on the development of minimum standards for EHCS in Europe.

ADAM MAREK - Adam is Director of Health and Social Spending at the Department of Finance, focusing on health financing. He has also worked at Union Health Insurance Company, where he worked on strategy. Prior to healthcare, he worked in technology companies.

ZUZANA NEUPAUER - Zuzana manages the Mental Health and Psycho-social support portfolio at the UNICEF Emergency Response Office in Slovakia. She has worked in the field of clinical psychology and psychotherapy prior to joining UNICEF. Previously she has also worked for the Crisis intervention team which provides support to victims of incidents and their relatives at a peritraumatic time. Zuzana also previously worked in the field of human rights focusing on the phenomena of Hate Crime, Hate Violence and Right-wing extremism in society.

IVETA PÁLEŠOVÁ - Iveta is a graduate of the University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Business Management. He has been working in the pharmaceutical industry since 1995. She started her professional career at Janssen-Cilag, where she worked in several positions in finance, logistics and pricing in a regulated environment. Since 2008, he has been engaged in drug pricing, drug entry into the market, pharmacoeconomic, budget and cost analyzes in various therapeutic areas, data processing on the development of drug consumption, complex medical costs and therapy effects. During the years 2008 – 2020 she worked in several pharmaceutic companies. Since 2020 Iveta holds the position of executive director of the Association of Innovative Pharmaceutical Industry (AFIP). 

DAJANA PETRÍKOVÁ - Dajana has over 20 years of experience in healthcare, specializing in health care provision, commercial supplementary health, and public health insurance. She served as the director of the purchasing department at Union zdravotná poisťovna, focusing on institutional and nursing care. Dajana has contributed significantly to the development and implementation of the DRG and OSN in Slovakia. Her expertise and ability to connect people across the sector led to her appointment as the executive director of the Slovak Health Insurance Association in January 2024.

KAMIL RÉNYI - Kamil is the General Manager of Zimmer Biomet for Central and Eastern Europe, brings over 25 years of experience in the medical devices industry, overseeing multinational sales and marketing teams across 20 countries. To his main contributions to the industry in recent years belongs the data and technology solutions roll out in the region. He oversees main go-to-market developments, bringing significant investments into the region. In the orthopedic market he’s been pivotal with market, business development, med device policy and reimbursement creation.  

VERONIKA RYBANSKÁ – Veronika currently leads the analytical and research team at the Institute of Healthcare Analysis at the Ministry of Health, focusing primarily on prevention and epidemiology of different diseases. Prior to this role, she held the position of director of the Analytical Institute at the Government Office of the Slovak Republic, where she and her team addressed various complex interdepartmental topics. Before her tenure in state administration, she worked as a researcher and team leader in multidisciplinary projects within the field of cognitive sciences at renowned global academic institutions, including the University of Oxford, Royal Holloway University of London, Boston University, and the University of Agder. Throughout her career, she closely collaborated on various international projects and grants supporting scientific research, as well as informing public policies.

MARTIN SMATANA - Martin studied in Oxford and at Imerial College, London, where he graduated in healthcare management. He worked in Great Britain as an analyst at the National Institute of Health. During 2016-2020, he headed the Health Policy Institute and was chairman of the supervisory board of the Všeobecná zdravotná poisťovňa, a.s.. He is currently working on AI startups and works as an analyst for GLOBSEC, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the European Commission. In addition, he cooperates with the Association for the Protection of Patient's Rights and lectures on health economics at the Slovak University of Health Sciences. He is the author of several publications and a member of several working groups of the European Commission and the OECD.

ADAM SPIELMAN - Adam is Head of Health and Consumer at Citi Global Insights, focusing on the future of healthcare and food. Previously, he led EMEA Consumer Staples Research at Citi and is a member of the Institutional Investor Hall of Fame. Adam joined Citi in 1997 and became a managing director in 2014. He holds an MBA from Harvard and an MA in Engineering and Philosophy from Cambridge University, earning scholarships for academic merit from both institutions. 

MICHAL ŠTOFKO - Michal has worked in a number of healthcare facilities and companies. In addition, he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the University Hospital in Nové Zámky and Vice-Chairman of the Categorization Commission for Special Medical Materials of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic. Since October 2023, he has been the State Secretary of the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic.

ERIC SUTHERLAND - Eric is a Senior Health Economist leading the OECD’s work in Digital Health, bringing together policy guidance for digital tools, integrated data, and responsible analytics including artificial intelligence. In that role, he is accountable for measuring and evolving the OECD’s Recommendation on Health Data Governance (2016) and supporting digital health policy that provides data protection (e.g. security and privacy) and timely access to quality data to optimize the use of data for information, insights, and impact among individuals, health workers, policy makers, researchers, and innovators. Eric’s work has led to publications on the use of Artificial Intelligence in Health, the state of Digital Security in Health across the OECD, and a thematic chapter on digital health in the OECD’s flagship Health-at-a-Glance 2023 report.

HENRIETA TULEJOVÁ - Henrieta is a co-founder and lecturer at Advance Healthcare Management Institute, Prague, which provides executive education in health services management to healthcare executives. She lectures mainly in the courses Healthcare Economics, Operations Management and New Trends in Healthcare and Health Insurance. He has long been involved in analyses and consultancy in the field of public health insurance and hospitals in SK and the Czech Republic. She focuses on setting up sustainable multi-source financing of healthcare, innovative contracts in inpatient and outpatient care, improving care for chronically ill patients as well as DRG and benchmarking of resource consumption for inpatient cases. Previously, she was the manager of the Strategic Planning Department at Dôvera, Health Insurance Company, Inc. where she was involved in the preparation and implementation of innovative projects such as the disease management program for diabetics, the managed care project Plan Medipartner, the PCG redistribution system, innovative payment mechanisms, and DRGs. Previously, she worked for several years as a member of the reform teams of Tomáš Julínek and Rudolf Zajac, where she was involved in the areas of regulation of health insurance companies and public health insurance.

VANDA TUXHORN – Vanda studied neonatology at Medical University Bratislava and have worked in the Slovak health care sector for 18 years. After finishing her medical studies in 1991, she joined the hospital in Bojnice.  She graduated in paediatrics and neonatology, worked in the paediatric and later in the neonatal ward. In 2009 she decided to go abroad and firstly took up a position as a doctor in a paediatric ward in the north of the Netherlands. In 2015 she moved to Germany, where she became chief pediatrician at Marien Hospital and currently works as a chief physician currently at Vinzentius Hospital in Landau.

PETRA ZAPPE - Petra as a Senior Policy Officer at Research and Innovation Authority is responsible for coordinating policies to support science, research and innovation in health, with the aim of systematically supporting excellent teams with strong research and innovation potential in biomedicine and health. For more than 6 years, she served at the American Chamber of Commerce in the Slovak Republic as a senior policy manager in health and innovation, where she managed and coordinated multiple projects to support systemic reforms. Previously, she worked as a consultant for the Ministry of Innovation in Brazil on poverty reduction and socioeconomic development of disadvantaged urban communities. She studied International Business at the University of Economics in Bratislava and International Relations at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague.