HBI 2024 |

With an ever growing workforce shortage and labour costs rising at unsustainable rates, what can be done now to stem the flow? Maintaining the pipeline of staff training is important, but addressing inefficient processes, eliminating waste and harnessing automation and new working models to boost productivity can make a huge impact. This keynote looks at efficiency and productivity gains using case studies and real data..

With few consolidation opportunities remaining, the future for labs lies in organic growth and digitalisation. What will be the impact of automation and smart laboratories? Will self-testing take off massively? Is there a threat from blood testing start-ups that are like Theranos, but work? This session features three laboratory diagnostic CEOs who share their approaches to growth.

A consumer outpatient model just like dental, aesthetics or ophthalmology, vet services is seeing strong investor interest. With the emergence of big national and international platforms, how does this sector handle workforce challenges, cost pressure, funding models and digital transformation? What can be learned from its retail-orientated model, adding new over the counter products and services? This session features three vet services groups of different scale who share their strategies for growth.

Ophthalmology continues to be a big area of investor interest with considerable scope for consolidation. Governments are increasingly outsourcing cataract operations, and the sector is starting to unlock the potential for multifocal lenses in middle age. In this session providers and MedTech discuss new models in care delivery, the impact of smart equipment and digital disruption.

At 4.5% of total emissions, healthcare emits twice as much greenhouse gas as aviation. The huge energy bills of recent months has thrust this issue further up the priority list, whilst patients, employees and investors place huge importance on environmental sustainability. This session features CEOs discussing how they are reducing their environmental impact from the simple to the complex such as using data to reduce waste, shifting away from anaesthetic gases, recycling water and cutting consumables and packaging.

New models of care as people stay at home longer, cost pressures, digital transformation, bed shortages, what is the long term impact of tech and how can investment be brought and driven into the sector.

Moving patients inefficiently through a healthcare system is a big challenge. Airports and airlines handle thousands of passengers daily whilst adhering to regulation and safety standards. What lessons can we learn?

This sector is still reeling from the effects of the pandemic and a number of subsequent scandals made ever harder with rising costs and labour shortages. What are the new innovative care models that are being deployed? How can digital transformation and flexible employment models make a difference?

Providers who are unable to virtualise care are ultimately doomed. This session presents clear examples of how providers have successfully built or bought digital solutions and outlines the challenges to the longer-term financing of digital delivery, where markets like Germany are cutting funding. It asks controversial questions about regulation, investment and risk.

This vast and fast-growing sector includes aesthetic procedures but also the treatment of age related conditions relating to dermatology, obesity, vein diseases, presbyopia and dental. Often this is an increasingly private pay market. We look at trends and growth rates across Europe.