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Identifying and transferring innovation in comparative Health Services and Systems Research – EVENT REPORT

9 February 2018

On 29 January 2018, TO-REACH and Health First Europe co-organised the workshop ‘Identifying and transferring innovation in comparative Health Services and Systems Research‘. Hosted by MEP Patrizia Toia (S&D, Italy) at the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels, the event was the opportunity to publicly present the concept and objectives of TO-REACH to the EU health policy audience.

Prof. Walter Ricciardi, Principal Investigator of the project and President of the National Institute of Health of Italy (Istituto Superiore di Sanità ISS), together with Prof. Ellen Nolte, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and Dr. Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, President of the European Public Health Association, outlined the main aspects of TO-REACH before responding to questions and feedback from the participants in what proved to be a lively high-level discussion that will feed into both ongoing and future project work.

Prof. Ricciardi, on the importance of the TO-REACH project, said ‘Health services and systems are evolving and we need another wind of change which focusses on innovation that promotes value. I see momentum for working together towards more sustainable Health Systems and Health Services in Europe building and believe the To-Reach project is ideally placed to build upon this’.

TO-REACH is a Coordination and Support Action funded by Horizon 2020 and coordinated by the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. The three-years project builds on the need to address the numerous current shared challenges faced by European and International health systems. Ageing related issues and continuous financial pressures call for innovative solutions on how to organise health care in an equitable and efficient manner and there is an urgent need draw upon advanced research evidence and innovation, in order to help tackle common challenges with shared knowledge and best practices. To-Reach is therefore focussed on facilitating the effective transmission and implementation of comparative research outputs within different settings.

The TO-REACH Consortium is made up of 28 partners drawn from 13 EU Member States and 5 non-EU Countries including Governmental, funding bodies, national research organisations and EU level bodies. The Consortium aims to develop a joint European research programme focused on producing research evidence to support health care services and systems to become more resilient, effective, equitable, accessible, sustainable and comprehensive. Within this framework, the partners will oversee the production of a Strategic Research Agenda, recognizing common priorities areas to advance cross national learning across Europe, identifying novel solutions able to respond to shared challenges, and understanding and predicting whether such solutions can be implemented and transferred in other settings. In doing so, TO-REACH will also work towards the creation of a broad coalition of committed Member States and funding bodies.

To know more about TO-REACH download the project leaflet here. Follow the project Twitter account @toreachEU to receive regular updates and news from the project consortium, or contact us at [email protected].

• Download the press release in pdf here
• Relive the key moments of the workshop with our dedicated Storify
• Check the HFE Event Summary and the photo album