Integrated care in a metropolitan area: blurring the boundaries between high-tech hospital and the community

The integration of health service provision is a conceptual framework that is easy to share from a theoretical point of view but raises problems when it comes to specifying actions and comparing the models and the results obtained. In general, the models for integration of services are hybrids and have been built up starting from an iterative process that receives the impact both of the general conditions (funding systems, health policies and social provisions) and of the local conditions (demography, types of supplier or available human resources).

Until relatively recently high-tech hospitals were not aware of his dual function: A function of high-tech services to a very large part of the population but also a function of general hospital for the local community. Obviously, the strategy to address the problems of high technology can not be the same as to address the health problems of the community. Health professionals and organizations must adapt to provide the right services, avoiding the "one size fits all".

In the workshop we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of integrated care models in which it is involved high-tech hospital. It is therefore important to know the causes that drive transformation, levers for change and how to establish priorities.