Plenary 1 - EMERGING SOLUTIONS

Technology and oncology 

Technology and innovation continues to rapidly change our working and social lives. The health care sector has historically been lagging in adoption of innovation due to safety and privacy concerns. However, compelling lifesaving innovation has reached the shores of healthcare with global technology companies now making major investments in healthcare.

This plenary explores both the micro in terms of gene technology as well as the macro health system and its interaction with artificial intelligence, apps and wearable technology. The plenary will provide an insight into costs of this early phase technology and provides essential background to ethical questions of how society can afford these advances.

  • Dr Nic Woods - Health Industry Executive, CMO, Microsoft Australia
  • Dr Amy Prawira – Medical Oncologist, The Kinghorn Cancer Centre
  • Adam Stolz – GM Pricing and Product, Medibank

plenary 2 - allocation and prioritisation

Who benefits and who pays?

Significant research and development has been and continues to be invested to develop emerging health solutions. On the one hand, there is a limited pool of funds for R+D, and investors require a return on their investment. On the other hand, the high costs of these solutions inevitably means that initially, not everyone can have access. How should funding and access be prioritised?  What examples are out there that can we learn from? How can such ethical discussions and decisions be conducted?

  • Barry Leung - Head of Strategy and Actuarial Services, Defence Health
  • Sarah Johnson – Scheme Actuary, NDIS
  • Narcyz Ghinea - Postdoctoral Researcher, Sydney Medical School, Sydney Health Ethics, The University of Sydney

plenary 3 - SHIFTING THE FOCUS FROM SICKNESS TO HEALTH

Is wellness now a game changer?

The most obvious truism is that it is better to keep someone well than treat them when sick. So why is spending on wellness so limited compared to spending on treatment? 

This plenary will examine the latest wellness initiatives and discuss whether they have the potential to significantly improve health outcomes.

 

  • Georgina Drury - CEO and Founder, My Spring Day
  • Dr Kevin Cheng - Founder, Osana
  • Richard Farber - Non-Executive Director, Discovery Limited

plenary 4 - a new healthcare model

Do we need one, and how do we get there?

Health related technologies are increasingly facilitating improved quality and length of life. 

But how should such inevitably expensive technologies be financed and can we as a nation afford them

This session will explore these opposing objectives from a range of perspectives and will raise the question, ‘Do we need a new healthcare model?’ 

  • Dr Malcolm Parmenter – CEO, Primary Health Care
  • Dr Andrew Singer – Principal Medical Adviser, Australian Government Department of Health, Adjunct Associate Professor, Australian National University Medical School; Senior Specialist in Emergency and Retrieval Medicine, Canberra Hospital and Health Services
  • Professor Richard Madden – Professor of Health Statistics, The University of Sydney