Opened by Timothy Van Zandt, coordinator of the ‘Health Economics’ axis at the Institute of Global Health, and moderated by Thomas London, an INSEAD alumnus, the conference offered an in-depth exploration of the transformations taking place in the healthcare system in an era of rapid technological advances.

The panel, comprising figures from complementary backgrounds — Franck von Lennep, Fabrice André, Alix Pradère and François Gaudemet — provided an opportunity to compare perspectives across public policy, research, technological innovation and industry.

A shared view: a problem of absorption, not of innovation

A clear conclusion emerged from the discussions: the healthcare sector does not suffer from a lack of innovation, but from a lack of absorption.

Whilst advances in biotechnology, artificial intelligence and precision medicine have never been more numerous, healthcare systems are still struggling to integrate them effectively. The real bottleneck now lies in the ability to deploy, fund and roll out these innovations on a large scale.

The discussions highlighted three major developments:

• The shift from a challenge of innovation to a challenge of adoption: creating new solutions is no longer the main constraint; their practical implementation has become the priority.
• Gains are now organisational: the most significant improvements lie less in the technology itself than in the organisational and management models of healthcare systems.
• Access to standard care remains unequal: despite progress, consistent access to quality care remains a major challenge, highlighting persistent disparities.

Changing scale: the real challenge of the coming years

One of the key takeaways from this conference is that the future of healthcare systems will not be determined solely by the ability to innovate, but by the ability to scale up. In other words, the value of innovations will depend on their actual uptake by patients and healthcare professionals. This implies rethinking funding, organisational and governance models, in order to make systems more agile, integrated and equitable.

This reflection is in line with the mission of the Alliance Sorbonne Université’s Institute of Global Health: to promote an interdisciplinary and systemic approach to health. By bringing together researchers, public decision-makers and private sector stakeholders, the Institute aims to contribute to concrete solutions that support prevention, access to care and equity.

The conference concluded with a convivial networking session, extending the discussions and fostering future collaborations.

© Photo credit: Mohammed Boulmani