Health technologies and patient satisfaction: a study on the distribution of incontinence aids
The real-world study Performance and patient satisfaction of distribution processes of health technologies: real world evidence conducted in Piedmont Region, explores how different distribution models for incontinence management devices (home delivery vs community pharmacy-based) affect costs and patient satisfaction. Even if mixed models are more expensive, they provide more products, being perceived and rated more positively by users. The study highlights practical insights, relevant to improve primary care service design and ensure future sustainability of healthcare systems, offering opportunities for replication across different regional systems. The study was written by Erminia Mastrosimone, Alessandro Creazza, Elisabetta Garagiola and Emanuele Porazzi and published in Health and technology.
Sustainability in healthcare
Caring for people’s health today also means taking care of the environment. The healthcare sector has a significant impact on the planet, yet so far it has lacked a structured approach to assess its sustainability. The research “Seventy-two shades of environmental sustainability in healthcare: a holistic framework proposal”, conducted by Federica Asperti (PERFORMA Observatory Coordinator), Emanuela Foglia (Researcher) and Elisabetta Garagiola (Research Fellow) from the Healthcare Data Science Lab of LIUC, together with Lorella Cannavacciuolo (Associate Professor, University of Naples Federico II), Eleonora Gheduzzi (Researcher, Politecnico di Milano) and Stefania Manetti (Researcher, San Raffaele Roma University), proposes a holistic framework to guide hospitals and healthcare organisations in their transition toward increasingly sustainable practices. Based on a review of 72 international studies and validated by a panel of European experts, the model identifies three key areas — infrastructure, organisation and technology — as essential levers to reduce energy consumption, emissions and waste. This approach enables an integrated assessment of environmental performance in healthcare facilities and supports decision-making and investment choices inspired by sustainability principles, helping the healthcare system move toward net-zero goals, by providing operational support to strategic leadership in identifying key areas for success.
