EUREGHA was pleased to participate in the European Health Management Conference (EHMC) 2026, held from 10–12 June in Barcelona. Under the theme “Future-proofing health systems for a changing world: from strategy to action”, the conference brought together health leaders, policymakers, researchers and practitioners to exchange on some of the main challenges facing European health systems.
Throughout the conference, EUREGHA attended sessions on quality and patient safety, sustainable health financing, strategic governance, organisational transformation and data-driven healthcare. Particular highlights included discussions led by WHO Europe on whole-system approaches to quality of care and affordable access to healthcare, as well as a plenary on transforming health data into actionable and trustworthy decisions. EUREGHA member IRST also contributed to the poster programme through Valentina Bugani’s presentation on an integrated system of competencies.
EUREGHA also participated in a workshop on cancer policy, contributing to discussions on the Right to Be Forgotten and childhood cancer care and bringing in the experience of the YARN Cancer Network. Other sessions highlighted policy and regulatory approaches to health innovation presented by AQuAS, as well as value-based approaches across the continuity of care, with examples from Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy and Spain.
A key highlight came on the final day, when Michele Calabrò, Director of EUREGHA, contributed to the plenary session “From strategy to action: implementing workforce transformation”. He stressed the central role of regional and local authorities in translating workforce strategies into practice and highlighted the need for regional ecosystems that connect healthcare delivery, innovation and skills development. Drawing on the example of Emilia-Romagna’s governance approach to AI adoption in healthcare, he underlined the importance of co-creation and collaboration between public authorities, healthcare providers, education actors and other stakeholders to overcome fragmentation, financing challenges and regulatory complexity.
The EHMC 2026 Conference reaffirmed the importance of moving from strategy to implementation and the key role of regions in building more resilient, innovative and people-centred health systems.
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