Hopes annual regional conference will be ‘thought-provoking’

PERFORMANCE, accountability and collaboration will be among the key programme topics at the 14th annual BHF Southern African Conference to be held in Cape Town in August.

Embracing the theme “One Vision, One Future”, the conference — to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre from August 18-21 — promises to be “one of the most thought-provoking yet”, according to Heidi Kruger, the BHF’s head of corporate communications, “with a programme covering the critical issues of the day”.

Says Kruger: “The theme emphasises the need for unity within the sector, to achieve alignment and to better serve the population of southern Africa.”

The programme topics will be addressed by industry experts, senior government officials and other eminent presenters who will lead debate and seek to achieve workable resolutions for the industry.

Session topics cover a range of issues including:

The ‘Triple Aim’ of better health, better healthcare and lower cost;

Linking pricing to outcomes — The Affordable Health Care Act for Medicare/ Medicaid in the USA;

Procuring at the state tender price in the private sector?; and

Pharmacoeconomic evaluation — promoting fairness in funding.

Among others, there will also be sessions on: Customer-centric innovations; Benchmarking quality; Tariff-setting in Zimbabwe; Regulatory and systemic distortions — the impact on consumers; Insurance versus medical aid; Trustee remuneration – can one size really fit all?; and

High-performing health systems and NHI – balancing the rights of the 8.5-million lives with those of the 42-million lives.

The BHF/Metropolitan Health Golf Challenge will take place at the Pearl Valley course in Paarl, Western Cape, on August 18. For details: www.bhfglobal.com.