LIST OF PANELS

The panel will welcome papers focusing on the following topics: 1. Assessment of the effectiveness of extant primary care models. Regional and international comparative analysis. 2. Value-based analysis of the shift in health and social care provision from secondary to primary care. 3. Assessment of different business models and business structures for the delivery of primary care. Best-practices and work in progress. 4. Leadership in local health agencies and local health providers. Challenges and opportunities. 5. Reimbursement and incentive models for primary and social health service. Comparison between volume and quality based models.

Increasing costs in secondary care, together with decreasing total health expenditures, challenge the long-term sustainability of national health systems. Therefore, there is a call for both policy makers and healthcare providers to put forward and implement a redesign of the health system aimed at fostering a shift in healthcare provision from secondary to primary care. In this context, local health agencies, or local health providers, should play an active role in the choice of an effective model of primary care, which is able to both increase the outcome of the health service provided and contain health costs.