Basic Event Information
Date: 5-6 April 2019
Location: Madrid, Spain
Organizer: Kenes Group
Client: N/A – WHAHC is a Kenes Group Original Event
Event type: Congress
EVENT CATEGORY: CATEGORY CROSSOVER
Event description and key objectives
For the very first time, international hospital at home (HaH) stakeholders had the opportunity to meet face-to-face at the World Hospital at Home Congress (WHAHC) and connect the HaH ecosystem beyond borders. The HaH model meets the urgent need of the healthcare providers for a cost-effective alternative to the standard inpatient treatment, the increased pressure on hospital beds and patient-risk hospitalisation. Recent scientific findings show that hospital at home services can provide cost-effective treatment to acutely ill patients, lowering expenditure, improving health outcome and increasing patient safety and satisfaction.
The World Hospital at Home Congress is a first-of-its-kind international platform instituted by the Kenes Group Original Events team. The goal of the meeting was to provide all parties, from healthcare practitioners to policymakers, dedicated education and a place to showcase homecare best practices and technologies.
Key challenges
The main challenge of the event was in creating a unique platform that would provide enough room for discussion to the audience, which was eager to meet like-minded people and share challenges and best practices. The question was what combination of event formats would yield best results for this first-time event and how can the overall experience be enhanced starting before the event, all the way onsite, and continuing the conversation well after the meeting. The continuation of the conversation was key especially having in mind that there is no uniform association behind WHAHC.
Creativity
Prior to the event, to generate interest there was a focus on marketing campaigns with sharable content, as infographics and videos on the topic. Additionally, there were open calls to the audience for topic generation for the scientific program, questions towards the speakers, and campfire discussions points.
An event mascot was created, which was presented before WHAHC and through a game all participants were invited to suggest a name that would fit it best, receiving over 60 submissions in only a week.
Among the session formats, we selected: one-on-one meetings, campfire discussions, and the house of demonstrations – a home-looking set onsite that served to present different solutions for treating patients at home. There was also tailored Madrid HaH Tours – three groups visited respectively a hospital, a HaH unit, and a patient’s home to learn first-hand from Spain’s model.
Innovation
Apart from the creative physical set up and engaging marketing, there was a very easy to use mobile app that allowed attendees to ask questions onsite during the sessions. After working closely with the speakers and moderators, it was ensured that there would be ample time for discussions.
During lectures, the presenters used the polling feature and during the question & answer part all participants were able to ask and “upvote” each other’s questions. In this way, the session moderator was able to address the popular on the list. All questions that were left unanswered due to time limitations were later on addressed by the speakers through the event’s podcast.
Execution
The event mascot was a big part of the onsite experience for delegates. There was a large version that welcomes all participants at the registration desk. A limited number of smaller-sized mascots were gifted to participants through different games, including an engaging social media photo competition. The mascot appeared on the signage in the venue and there were fridge magnets for all delegates in their welcome pack.
The attendee feedback, with over 90% of participant expectations met, was overwhelming thanks to compelling content and engaging session formats and tools.
Measurable results
- 434 attendees from 41 countries (expectations were for 250 delegates in total)
- 90% delegate expectations met (according to post-event survey)
- 259 questions asked via the app
Prof. Bruce Allen Leff, co-chair of the event commented: “We talked a lot about the HaH community that this meeting has helped to build, but with this congress we became a tribe. A tribe is a group of people who are “your people” in a deeply meaningful way. We addressed the models, technology, scalability, and more but for what I am most pleased is what the future holds – HaH is a major culture change, and we will continue developing it beyond borders through more meetings and the dedicated WHAHC community space.”
Communication
1.441M impressions on social media
Clear communication and a focused message starting before the event helped to achieve great campaign results. All special initiatives contributed to creating a very positive buzz and excitement towards the event (videos, infographics, mascot, opportunities for audience engagement, compelling content). Next step in the development of the WHAHC brand is the creation of the World Hospital at Home Community – a platform aimed to advance the hospital at home model and ecosystem through a dedicated online space.
The use of sustainable practices
At this event, there were no specific sustainability policies, but only following the Kenes Group standard procedures in this respect and using what the venue and the destination could offer. This is certainly a topic to better address in the next editions of the event.
