The Auditorium of the Dr. Josep Trueta University Hospital in Girona hosted this Thursday, December 12, the closing ceremony of the European project INNOBICS-SAHS. The initiative, born from an initial pilot project led by the Pulmonology Service of Trueta and Santa Caterina, has been developed since 2022 with funding from EIT Health and the co-participation of IDIBGI, TIC Salut Social Foundation, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Pulso Ediciones, TRC Informática, ResMed Spain, and OXIGEN Salud.

The project involved 11 primary care centers from the Catalan Institute of Health in Girona (10) and the Institute of Health Assistance (1). Final data will be officially released in January, alongside the results from the experience in Portugal, followed by a comprehensive analysis to determine the project’s next steps.

Today’s event allowed participants to share what INNOBICS-SAHS has accomplished in the Girona area, how it has been implemented in primary care, and the challenges ahead. In this context, Dr. Eric Rojas, pulmonologist at Trueta and Santa Caterina and principal investigator of the project, emphasized that an “innovative model integrating primary care and hospital services for the treatment of sleep apnea” has been created. This has significantly reduced the time needed for diagnosis and promoted early treatment of a condition that affects an estimated one in four people aged 30 to 70, although it often remains undiagnosed.

Dr. Marc Bonnin, head of the Pulmonology Service at Trueta and Santa Caterina, highlighted the potential of the INNOBICS-SAHS project “to leverage the proximity of primary care to detect, diagnose, and treat a still underdiagnosed condition” that can lead to severe cardiovascular problems or neurocognitive impairments.

Dr. Montserrat Figuerola, President of the ICS Administrative Board, was among the authorities who opened and closed the event, describing it as “very valuable.” “The collaboration spirit between all participants in the project—Trueta and Santa Caterina hospitals (IAS), primary care teams, and companies forming part of a high-level public-private consortium—has been showcased.” Additionally, she stressed that the results encourage the continuation of the project and its integration into the Catalan public health system.

The event also featured Dr. Ramon Orriols, emeritus pulmonologist of the Pulmonology Service, who explained the project’s starting point and the need to address the highly prevalent condition of obstructive sleep apnea.

Sleep nurse Helena Comas presented how the INNOBICS-SAHS program was managed from primary care, while Dr. Anton Obrador, pulmonologist and first coordinator of the project, provided an overall perspective of the experience.

[Article published by ICS Girona]