We started our day off by visiting Medife, an umbrella company that contains a private insurance company and union system. And later in the day we went to ICBA (a cardiology hospital) and finished by going to the Malba Museum of Contemporary Latin American art. At Medife, we heard from Director of Health Innovations, Flor Lodesima. She told us about the complexities in managing their union system for managers, ASE. This program is unique because it is under the umbrella company of Medife. The company also has its own private insurance company and hospitals. This allows ASE to directly contract with their own insurance company and facilities, and also allows them to contract externally with other unions or private companies to use their resources. It was interesting to hear about a company that had stakes in two of the major health sectors and their approach to long term financial sustainability.
Hearing from the health director at ICBA also offered a very fresh opinion. They are a private hospital with a specific focus in cardiology, and this lends them to treat higher risk clientele. The director had a very different philosophy from other private hospitals, even outright disagreeing with the practices of Swiss Medical. ICBA values efficient and quality patient care. Around 33% of their patients are discharged within a day, with the average being around 2.6 days. This differs from Swiss Medical (Los Arcos hospital) that says they try to occupy as many of their beds as possible – meaning longer stays are beneficial for them. The director made the comparison that Los Arcos is a hotel, and ICBA is an airport lounge that you quickly leave to get to your real destination. They even have luxury resting rooms emulating lounges to give patients that greater experience. It was even more interesting to hear that ICBA was recently acquired by Swiss Medical. The two companies are learning to adapt each others ideals and work together. For example, Swiss Medical has changed its motto to that of ICBA, which puts more focus on the care of patients.
We finished the day by visiting the Malba Museum. Although contemporary/modern art isn’t that interesting to me, there were some pieces that were unique and moving. Overall, we had a long and fruitful day.
