The 1st Regional Meeting of Reference Centers took place on January 17, 2024) in the Auditorium Manuel Machado Macedo, at NOVA Medical School. This meeting, promoted by the National Commission for Reference Centers, brought together around 60 doctors, representatives of the coordination of these Reference Centers who had the opportunity to discuss and reflect on the action that the Reference Centers have been developing.
In the words of the President of the Commission, Professor Eduardo Barroso, one of the objectives of this meeting was to analyse how the Reference Renters are fulfilling their mission, since they were created in 2016 and will, in the near future, begin to be audited. The creation of Reference Centers allows to conveniently diagnose and treat patients with more complex pathologies and stricter treatment requirements.
Doctors Carla Pereira and Paula Alves, members of the Commission, coordinated the part of the meeting dedicated to discussion and reflection on the action of the Reference Centers, in which all present coordinators could share the difficulties experienced in maintaining the Reference Centers, as well as the added value of their existence.
In the second part of the session, Professor Eduardo Costa, Professor at Nova SBE and member of the Commission, had the opportunity to present the results of the survey carried out at 112 Reference Centers on metrics of their respective operations, which was followed by a period of healthy debate, moderated by Professor Helena Canhão, Dean of NOVA Medical School and also member of the Commission, where suggestions emerged of future work with a view to continuing to achieve the objectives of these Reference Centers: “to improve the diagnostic and treatment capacity of various medical and surgical pathologies, to add synergistic response capacity around nosological entities with affinities in their manifestations, to maximize the innovative potential of medical sciences and health technologies, conducting scientific research of international impact, to provide highly specialized healthcare, translated into significant improvements in quality, cost, effectiveness and safety, accessible to patients whose clinical condition requires a special concentration of highly differentiated medical knowledge. At the same time, it is expected that they will contribute to accelerating the dissemination of good practices and also to the structural reform of the hospital sector.” (Order No. 5969/2023-DR.No. 102, of 26.05.23)
The National Commission for Reference Centers includes the following members:
Professor Eduardo Barroso, president
Professor Doutor Joaquim Murta, vice-president
Dr. José Eduardo Costa Maia
Professora Doutora Helena Canhão
Prof. Doutor Eduardo Costa
Dr. Rui Ferreira
Doctor Carla Pereira
Dr. António Esteves
Professor Luís Bento
Doctor Paula Alves