Polish-American Health Summit to culminate the decade-long presence of the International Hospital Management Conference in Poland.

The story began over 10 years ago, on a train from Warsaw to Poznań. The idea to organize a conference for medical directors was first pitched to Mr. Janusz Michalak, President of the Termedia Publishing House, by Dr. Jarosław J. Fedorowski. He was trained in the USA and has had over 10 years of professional experience there as clinician, academic faculty and healthcare leader. At that time, he was holding the function of medical director of a large managed care organization in Poland. The idea was transformed into reality: the first edition of the Hospital Management (HM) conference, held on the premises of the Leon Koźmiński University in June 2007, proved a great success. The first HM conference received substantive support from the USA, in the form of prominent speakers – presidents of highly esteemed organizations including the American Association of Medical Directors and the American College of Physician Executives. It was during the first HM conference that the roles and responsibilities of medical directors were defined, and the group of managers who committed themselves to performing this difficult function received due recognition. Subsequent HM conferences set the trends in various areas in the activity of hospitals and the healthcare system, such as the implementation of IT solutions, equipment, hospital drug and material management, group purchasing, risk management, innovation or contracting and settlement of medical services.

HM conferences were also accompanied by special events including prestigious international meetings: Polish-Australian and Polish-British Health Summits, sessions of international investors and the European Hospital and Healthcare Federation (HOPE) or the Stanford University.

The HM Conference has become an established entity in the calendar of Poland’s most important meetings in the healthcare sector, building a reputation as a prestigious and highly informative event. The main theme of this year’s HM conference is the extremely trendy problem of managed care – an area in which the Americans are true masters.

To mark the 10th anniversary of the HM conference, a very interesting international event has been planned, named the Polish-American Health Summit (PAHS). PAHS is organized in cooperation with the US Embassy in Warsaw the American Chamber of Commerce in Poland (AMCHAM) and the Washington-based organization Activity for Innovation and Economic Growth, whose President, Mr. George Handy, is the Co-Chairman of PAHS. Due to the work schedule of the US Ambassador to Poland, PAHS will take place on the second day of the HM conference, i.e. on 17 June 2016. The venue will be the Conference Center at the Warsaw Airport Hotel Okęcie, which proved to be a great venue last year. The program of PAHS looks very promising. The topics to be discussed include examples of successful Polish-American cooperation in the healthcare sector, managed care, long-term and home care, innovative medical technologies, medical simulation centers, clinical trials, education of medical students and tobacco-free hospitals. Among the invited American speakers, there are representatives of a range of organizations such as Synergy Home Care (Gilbert, Arizona), Virginia Commonwealth University (Richmond, Virginia), University of Wisconsin-Madison (Madison, Wisconsin), National Cancer Institute (Rockville, Maryland), Activity for Innovation and Economic Growth (Washington, District of Columbia), Montana Hospital Association (Helena, Montana). Other planned highlights include a business session of the American Chamber of Commerce and a Polish-American business mixer. The guest of honor at the opening of the Polish-American Health Summit will be the US Ambassador to Poland Hon. Paul W. Jones.

On behalf of the Program Board and the Organizer, I have the pleasure of inviting you to take part in the Conference.

Jarosław J. Fedorowski, Assoc. Prof., MD, PhD, MBA
Chairman, 10th International Hospital & Healthcare Management Conference, Warsaw, 16-17 June 2016
President, Polish Hospital Federation
Governor and member of the President’s Committee, European Hospital and Healthcare Federation
Honorary Ambassador of Polish Congresses, Polish Chamber of Tourism

Warsaw, 14 Apr 2016