“We treat digitalization as the foundations of the social policy of the future and as a key piece of health”

If Rocío Mosquera knows anything, it is health and she does it from all possible points of view. Doctor, specialist in general surgery, by training, she was always interested in management and convinced of public-private collaboration. This has led him to occupy positions in the health administration and with responsibilities in management teams until he became manager of the Galician Health Service (Sergas) and conselleira de Sanidade and promote the creation of the Cluster Saúde de Galicia, CSG. She also had time to manage a private hospital and currently holds the management of Galaria, e, a public company in the health sector, and the presidency of the CSG. Undoubtedly, rarely can we talk to a person with such a 360º vision.

When we ask him about key moments in the development of the field in our community, it is striking that Mosquera has been present, on one side or the other, in all of them. He speaks in the first person and with knowledge of all of them. “It’s hard for me to change my hat from the public to the private sphere, but in either world I’ve felt very comfortable and I’ve always tried to contribute,” she acknowledges.

The Cluster Saúde de Galicia is a key piece in our region in everything related to health. It is an entity with a long history.

The CSG was created in 2011 and was born in an anomalous way with respect to the rest of the clusters of Galicia, since it did so hand in hand with the public administration. And it is logical that it was so: in Spain, health is eminently public and much more in Galicia, around 90% of the activity comes from this sector. The health administration wanted to know the potential of the industry in its ecosystem and contribute to its development. That was the starting point and, since then, we have strived to improve and grow with the health and social care sector itself.

It is a cluster that is born from the public initiative, but that promotes public-private collaboration, right?

That’s fundamental. We must promote both sectors and that both join efforts to reach the maximum level of our potential.

We must bear in mind that our business network is very dispersed and it is very important to have a cluster in which companies and other entities of the health ecosystem are represented, understood this in its broadest and transversal concept, and to encourage joint work.

At times, the public health sector helped drive a competitive private business sector. How did both sectors help each other?

Our joint goal was, and is, to value our healthcare industry. There have been enormous efforts in this regard that have borne great fruit.

For example, in the harshest moments of the crisis of 2008/2011, a project of 90 million euros was achieved for innovative public procurement (CPI) and that led to the creation of the Living Lab de Ourense, LabSaúde and many other projects. With this, we are able to promote, at the same time, an important business development of the CSG community.

The electronic health record or the electronic prescription are very important milestones as well. But this boost to the ICC meant innovating in purchases and opening a new way of relating to companies. This commitment of Sergas to the CPI has been recognized with the First Prize for Public Procurement of Innovation of the European Innovation Council (EIC).

Possibly this cluster, like health itself, is one of those that have a more transversal approach…

No doubt. The world of health is clearly global and we can integrate diverse companies. From the food sector, one of the basic drivers of health, to social and health care companies, which have an increasing weight in the CSG. And so it should be, given the ageing of our society.

In addition, technology companies are vital. This is because its solutions and products are the fundamental tools to respond to present and future health demands. Without them it would simply be impossible.

And, 10 years after the marriage between private and public sector, how would you define the relationship?

A well-established relationship, and now more than ever, that is why we promote collaboration agreements in all fields: health, social, industry, environment, education, etc.

Perhaps other clusters can be limited to a private environment, but, of course, that does not happen in health. We are very transversal, in agents and approaches, and in the future this trend will be even greater since health, increasingly, has a holistic approach.

Therefore, in the CSG we have been applying the One Health concept for some time where it is understood that human health is affected by environmental and animal health. Therefore, animal welfare, the health of the planet and our own health are interrelated. All this is inseparable and must have a place in the Cluster Saúde de Galicia to really have a complete vision. By taking care of people, we take care of the planet; and, by taking care of the planet, you improve people’s health and well-being.

¿So, can we say that the real challenge is to set limits on your work?

The truth is that this is a question that we hizo reflexionar. Fue en el año 2019 cuando se inició la elaboración de un nuevo plan estratégico para decidir qué queríamos ser y dónde debíamos centrar nuestras acciones, para así no perder foco y centrarnos en las necesidades del ecosistema de salud gallego.

If we leave other issues aside and extend the concept of health to care, as other European countries already do, disassociating it from the disease/cure binomial, the vision is already greatly expanded.

And this is no longer an option. It is mandatory to value and work in the field of care. The ageing of the population poses new challenges in this regard, but we see this scenario as a very important work opportunity.

We are completely convinced that if we talk about Silver Economy, Galicia has a lot to say, we are a reference community. In fact, Galicia is a region classified as a European Reference Site with the highest score (4 stars), given the number of projects on healthy living and active ageing in public-private collaboration. Therefore, we are sure that Galicia is the best place to live and age in an active and healthy way.

We are a reference for the study of this situation and how to respond to future challenges. We have the demographic conditions and needs that Europe will have in 2050. We are a mirror in which to look at the evolution that all our neighboring countries will have in a short time.

This opens up endless commercial possibilities for us. Companies can develop products and solutions that can be tested in the socio-sanitary environment of our community and that can then be exported.

And is this already happening?

Yes, this is already being done, it is a reality and it is a tremendous opportunity for our healthcare ecosystem industry. We are in the ideal scenario to test the products and solutions that allow us to respond to the needs of the elderly population. It is a challenge that unites us all and, here, technology and the digitalization of processes is crucial.

“Digitalization is our core and it is essential that it be so if we want to provide the necessary services and attention to our elderly from a sustainable point of view”

How important is digitalization in the CSG strategy?

We work digitalization as the foundations of the social policy of the future and as a key piece of health. We could say that digitalization is our core and it is essential that it be so if we want to provide the necessary services and attention to our elders from a sustainable point of view.

We cannot forget that we are from the regions with the highest life expectancy, which is due, among other things, to our health coverage. But, in addition, we have a larger and very dispersed population. In this scenario, the only way to reach everyone and take care of them as they deserve is by making use of digitalization.

There the association with DATAlife can contribute to that great effort you are making, right?

We want to add, integrate, listen and go further. This allows us to be founding partners in an DIH such as DATAlife.

We must break with the ancestral fears of companies to associate, to share and collaborate. Listening to each other and uniting is the key to going further, and this is what allows us to be with you, we reach other agents and companies. Digitalization was already a fundamental part of the Cluster, but now, with this type of partnership, we can expand our network much more.

There are very important sectors for you and for us. Those synergies are crucial.

And of all those sectors in which the field of health is subdivided, is there any of them in Galicia that is outstanding?

Undoubtedly, biotechnology has a huge projection. And all this despite the fact that it is based on a large percentage of SMEs, even micro-SMEs. We have little fabric of large companies, even medium-sized companies.

Therefore, at this time of excellence and high competitiveness, I think it is important to promote this growth in size. And I say now because, with European funds, we must make that leap to be a benchmark in innovation.

We want to promote this collaboration and this search for synergies, I think that is what we need to definitely highlight. Unite ties, share and not compete, and make profitable the enormous research work that is being carried out in universities, in the academic sector.

But other sectors are also very important, as we already mentioned, for example, food or technology, without forgetting the social and health sectors, strongly represented in the CSG.

Is increasing the size of our companies or seeking that collaboration important at this point?

It is very difficult for a small company to have a competitive research department or an innovation department with sufficient resources. He doesn’t have enough muscle for it.

That is why we must be the clusters that have to facilitate this collaboration and support the internationalization process, with the leadership and traction of the largest companies.

You as Cluster Saúde de Galicia have a privileged vision of the health business. How do you see us in relation to the neighbors?

We are tremendously competitive in Europe, we are taken into account and we are a benchmark in many aspects. Currently, the CSG has alliances at national and international level with other clusters or entities of a similar nature to ours. That’s why, when we talk about collaboration, we want to be an example. Together we add up and we are much stronger.

And, in this sense, what challenges do you face in the short/medium term?

Our biggest challenge right now is to get the largest number of European funds for our companies. We are the technical office of the NEXT GENERATION GALICIA HEALTH funds that include thePERTE for avant-garde health. Our course is marked by its three lines: avant-garde health (advanced therapies), personalized precision medicine and digitalization.

That is why digitization is so important, because it is the backbone tool that will allow us to reach everything else. Data management, information analysis, Artificial Intelligence… All of this is crucial to bringing health to a new level of services.

Finally, Rocío, you as a professional, how do you see health services in the not too distant future?

I am very clear that health must transcend the treatment of diseases and focus on prevention and the promotion of healthy lifestyles and must revolve around care. Personalized and precision medicine is not the future, it is already the present. And not only in acute pathologies, but for chronic pathologies and for people over 65 years of age. The future lies in the so-called care economy.

But decisions cannot be made unilaterally, the elderly are no longer people to protect. They are capable individuals who know how they want to be cared for, they demand autonomy and freedom of choice. For this reason, the CSG is integrating patient associations. Companies and public administrations have to listen to them, they give valuable information about their needs. We take them very seriously and they are a fundamental piece in the CSG roadmap.