International course on ‘Care pathways’ and organization of care processes Solstrand Fjord Hotel,OS,Norway,12–14 September 2011

E-P-A ‘Summer Schools’

Since 2007, the European Pathway Association (E-P-A) has successfully organized one-week courses in planning and implementation of Care pathways at Lake Orta, Italy. In 2011, E-P-A goes for another option: this time the E-P-A organizes a three-day course in Care pathways that includes the core contents of the previous ‘Summer Schools’. Now, the wonderful Italian environment is replaced with another beautiful location: the ‘Solstrand Fjord Hotel’ (Figure 1) (meaning ‘Sunny Beach Fjord Hotel’), which is situated 30 minutes south of the city of Bergen at the west coast of Norway. Bergen is Norway's second biggest city and it is known for the Bryggen Hanseatic Wharf, the fish market, and surrounding mountains and fjords, such as the Hardangerfjord and Sognefjord, see http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Stories/Norway/Fjord-Norway/Bergen/ (Figure 2). The choice of a course location in Scandinavia is made for strategic reasons as Care pathways are only very rarely known as tools to achieve quality improvement in health care here. That is; E-P-A is now about to spread the message of Care pathways to the Nordic countries! The course is organized in close collaboration with the Research Network on Integrated Health Care in Western Norway and the Norwegian National E-P-A section.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1

The ’Care Pathway Course’ is held at the Solstrand Fjord Hotel near Bergen, Norway.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 2

Western Norway is famous for its fjord landscape.

The aim of the three-day course

The aim of the three-day course is to enable participants to successfully plan and implement Care pathways. Participants are carefully introduced to the concept of Care pathways, ways of developing them, necessary tools and research evaluation on Care pathways. The course includes a session about Lean management and pathways. The course will be taught and moderated by an international team of highly experienced teachers with excellent qualifications.

The International Teaching Team

Prof. Dr Massimiliano Panella (MD, PhD) is professor in Public Health at the Amedeo Avogadro University in Piemont, Italy and he is the president of the E-P-A. He has experience in management of hospitals and primary care and has more than 10 years of experience in Pathway development and research. Under Massimiliano's supervision, several randomized controlled trials on Care pathways have been performed.

Dr Kris Vanhaecht (RN, PhD) is postdoctoral research fellow at Leuven University, Belgium, where he teaches Quality Management. He has more than 10 years of experience in Pathways and performed a PhD study on the impact of clinical pathways. He is mainly interested in organizational, multidisciplinary change and quality improvement methods. Kris is the Secretary General of the E-P-A and leads the international multicentre study on Care pathways.

Mr Ruben Van Zelm (RN, MSc) is Senior Consultant for Q-consult in the Netherlands and also has more than 10 years of experience in Care pathways. Ruben is mainly interested in the relation between Evidence-Based Medicine and the use of clinical guidelines in Pathways. He is the E-P-A expert in Lean Management and also the E-P-A Secretary.

Eva Biringer (MD, PhD) is leader of the Research Network on Integrated Health Care in Western Norway and the leader of the new Norwegian National section of the E-P-A. She is currently doing a postdoctoral level research project in the Helse Fonna Local Health Authority, Norway.

How to apply for a place on the Pathway Course at Solstrand Fjord Hotel, Norway 12–14 September 2011?

The number of participants is limited. The E-P-A aims at selecting a multidisciplinary and international group of health care professionals. Therefore, you will need to apply for a place by downloading the Application form from the E-P-A website (www.E-P-A.org). The sooner you apply, the sooner you will know if you are accepted as applications will be reviewed and selected on a first-come, first-served basis. The final date for submission of the application form is 30 June 2011.