If you’re interested in a clearer picture on how policymakers define prevention, who is accountable for what and where the investment is, consider coming to Canberra in June.
On 16 and 17 June relevant local and international health industry leaders are gathering in Canberra for a workshop and summit, with the goal of giving you a sense of where you sit in the system in terms of prevention, and perhaps, how you should be planning and, maybe, ducking and weaving.
The program and speaker list is here, but a quick warning, the program is changing every day because there is so much change going on with respect to this most important of topics, especially because of the explosion of AI in the system, but also amid more system infrastructure and technology change than we have ever seen before.
If you already know this something that is interesting to you CLICK HERE to see current program and speakers, and use this promo code for a 20% discount on all ticket types. Also, do it before Friday night as the early bird deal ends on this summit at 12am and we are now at about 60% sold.
If you’re not convinced you would get a return on your investment going to this meeting, read on about what we will be doing, both at a half-day workshop, facilitated by Accenture Health, a dinner, and a full-day summit.
What are we going to try?
If you’re still reading, you’re probably already feeling what we felt putting this together: prevention is one of the most important ideas in healthcare — and also one of the least clearly understood.
Everyone agrees it matters. No one agrees on what it actually is, who owns it, how to measure it, or where to invest.
What is prevention?
One of the more honest moments in preparing our Canberra program this year was admitting that even the people closest to the system don’t agree on the basics.
Is prevention:
- Primary prevention (stopping disease before it starts)?
- Secondary prevention (catching and managing it early)?
- Both of the above, but what is the interrelationship and how do we mix it up moving forward?
- Or something broader — a reorganisation of how care is delivered?
Even among experienced operators, there’s confusion, but the confusion matters, because if you can’t define it, you can’t invest in it. And if you can’t invest in it properly, you can’t change outcomes.
That’s a key theme for Canberra: what steps are needed in the near term to get Australia on a much more meaningful path to changing prevention policy across the board for better outcomes.
Everyone owns it, which means no one does
You’ve probably heard the line “Prevention is everyone’s business”.
It sounds good but, of course, it’s the problem.
When prevention belongs to the federal government, state governments and hospital networks, PHNs, GPs, private health insurers and hospitals, tech vendors and so on, you can start to understand why organising around co-ordinated system-wide prevention is so hard.
A lot of different organisations play a role, but we need to understand better what each of these roles looks like and create some sort of organisational alignment.
Right now, we aren’t doing that. At the moment, everyone is doing something, no one is clearly responsible or has enough system-wide authority to be responsible and not much is realistically coordinated.
That’s not a system-wide plan. It’s more a herd of well-meaning cats.
We’re talking about investment without a plan
There’s a headline number floating around policy circles right now.
The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing says it wants to increase spending on prevention from about 3.1% to 5% of total health spend by 2030.
Sounds great. But here’s the uncomfortable question we want to ask in Canberra: what are we actually going to spend it on – if indeed the federal government is serious?
Because unless you know what “good” looks like, what models of care you’re aiming for and where there might be the most effective return, you’re probably wasting more money.
Big vision vs messy reality
Given all the seismic disruption we are about to experience, a lot of it AI-inspired, do we: reimagine the entire Australian healthcare system around prevention or accept the system we have — and try to make it work better.
Option one is clean, and visionary. But practically, it’s way too complex and risky.
The working assumption for this event is simple: we’re going to work with what we’ve got.
That makes the problem harder, but more interesting.
Where AI fits (and where it doesn’t)
You’ll hear a lot about AI at this event. But probably not in the way you expect.
If you don’t have the right models of care, the right incentives, the right data structures and the right roles across the system then AI has the potential to amplify existing confusion.
That’s why we’ll be focusing our workshop on the first day on: structure, investment, roles and models. Then we’ll ask where AI logically will help.
The bit people tend to miss: it’s about operating models, not ideas
One of the most useful reframes from our preparatory discussions was this: Prevention is not a concept. It’s an operating model.
What does this mean?
It means who does what, with what tools, funded how, measured how, across which parts of the system.
And, given all this, what does it actually look like to run a prevention-driven system, within the confines of our starting point?
Secondary prevention might be where the real action is
A lot of attention goes to primary prevention. But between primary and secondary prevention the conversation is shifting. We will look at why it might be better to focus a lot on the problems at the secondary prevention level.
Why?
It is more measurable, has clearer interventions and has more significant eventual system ROI. And critically, it’s where the system is currently failing at scale.
Chronic disease, avoidable hospitalisations, unmanaged conditions — this is where cost and outcomes collide.
Which is why a big part of our first day workshop will focus on “If you wanted to bend the curve quickly, where would you start?”
Related
Uncomfortable dynamics you’ll hear about
We’re not going to avoid the harder edges of this conversation. Things like:
How you manage a private sector moving faster than the public sector
Private insurers and providers are already investing in prevention because they can see the return. Meanwhile, parts of the public system are naturally much harder to shift.
That creates a tension but a good tension, if you manage it well.
Vendors are building ahead of policy
Technology is already being deployed in pockets:
- Web-based referral and advice and guidance networks;
- New virtual care models;
- AI – which is everywhere.
Without putting prevention into the context of a clear funding model we won’t get far.
PHNs are stuck between potential and reality
PHNs are meant to be local patient needs intelligence and provider coordination hubs.
In practice, they’re variable in capability, poorly structured and governed and often wasting their time trying to build stuff they shouldn’t.
That’s a conversation we won’t shy away from.
What you get if you come
This isn’t an event where you sit back and listen to polished slides. The intent is much more practical. By the end of the workshop and summit, we want to be able to say:
- What are the priority investment areas in prevention right now?
- What are the models of care we should be aiming for?
- What are the roles of each part of the system?
- What should government actually do next?
And importantly hopefully give you some good pointers to what should you be doing.
A key goal: creating a reference point
One of the outputs we’re aiming for is a clear, usable synthesis of the discussion.
Something that can guide decision-making, nudge the thinking of policy apparatchiks and start to form a picture of how different parts of the system should be looking to align – state, federal, regional, et al.
Why? Because right now, that reference point doesn’t really exist.
Who should come?
If you believe prevention is everyone’s business and you’re reading this, you should come. If you work anywhere in this system — policy, primary care, hospitals, PHNs, private sector, technology — this is all relevant to you.
Not in five years. Now.
Check out the program and speakers HERE, and grab a ticket before early bird closes on Friday.
We are also hosting a webinar on 28 April at 12:30pm AEST to dive into these questions ahead of the summit. Register for free here.
If you have any questions:
- Program inquiries – talia@medicalrepublic.com.au
- Sponsor inquiries – greta@healthservicesdaily.com.au
Or ring me for a chat. Hope to see you there.
