Participation of Guido Offermanns, Alexandra Kratki and Andrea Schweiger at the conference of the European Health Management Association (EHMA) in Bucharest

The European Health Management Association (EHMA) conference was held from 5 to 7 June 2024 at the Politehnica University of Bucharest. The conference, ‘Shaping and managing innovative health ecosystems’, was attended by Guido Offermanns, Alexandra Kratki from the University of Klagenfurt and Andrea Schweiger from the Karl Landsteiner Institute for Hospital Organization, who presented three papers.

The first paper by Guido Offermanns and Alexandra Kratki entitled ‘Measuring patient safety culture in Austrian hospitals: open communication as a key factor in improving handovers, teamwork, and adverse event reporting’ presents the findings of an empirical study examining the correlation between effective communication and the level of patient safety. It can be shown that patient safety culture can be empirically measured and that instruments for a measurable improvement in communication can be derived from this. Therefore, it becomes hospital managers’ responsibility to foster an open communication environment and strive to establish a just culture. Referring to the topic of communication, the second contribution by Andrea Schweiger and Guido Offermanns ‘Key factors for effective multidisciplinary work in tumour boards linking team culture and communication to the perceived benefit for patients in cancer care’ dealt with the collaboration of inter- and multidisciplinary teams in oncology. The empirical study analyzed different dimensions of cooperation in cancer care.

The third contribution by Guido Offermanns and Andrea Schweiger was a poster entitled ‘Establishing patient advocacy in cancer care in Austria: The alliance of oncological patient organizations’. The content shows the results of a project carried out with oncological patient organizations in Austria. It shows how the structured and target group-focused process can improve oncological care.