José Ignacio Castaño Lasaosa: “Healthcare management should be considered as another medical specialization”

The IIS Aragón researcher talks in this interview about his work leading the Group 'Innovation in Health Management and Health Economics' (GIISA005) and what its projects are like

José Ignacio Castaño Lasaosa, Doctor of Medicine and Surgery and Master in Health Economics and Healthcare Management, he has been Manager and Medical Director of various Aragonese hospitals since the 1980s. Since then, he has claimed the role of healthcare management.

“For me, healthcare management should be considered as another medical specialization, since its performance requires simultaneously addressing the same triple function: care, teaching and research”

Jose Ignacio Castaño carries more than 35 years Dedicating himself to healthcare management, in 1988 he was appointed Medical Director of the Barbastro Hospital and is currently Deputy Provincial Director of Healthcare in Huesca.

«I have always tried to combine the performance of the management role with teaching and research work in this field»

En November of 2015, José Ignacio Castaño was part of the First Board of Trustees of the IIS Aragón Foundation, since then he has been part of the institute and heads the Research Group on Innovation in Health Management and Health Economics (GIISA005).

What lines of research are being worked on in your group?

We focus mainly on three thematic areas: of public health services, the efficiency versus equity in the provision of health care, and the full test of healthcare organizational models, especially in the field of primary care.

What is the main challenge your research group is currently facing?

The biggest challenge is Incorporate young researchers interested in healthcare management, given the low weight that these topics have in undergraduate studies.

Any ongoing projects that you would like to highlight?

We are working on quantify –measuring the incremental impact that population dispersion has on public health expenditure. This is a topic on which there are no published studies with reproducible methodology. Our goal is to standardize your calculation to be able to analyse what differences in health financing are attributable to the lower population densities that characterise some territories. 

What profiles make up your research team?

The profiles are varied. The predominant ones are: doctors, but coming from different specialties: family and community medicine, preventive medicine and anesthesia. Some members have extensive experience in positions of health care management responsibility. Others do not have it, but have been specifically trained in health planning, management and economics.

The common denominator of all the members of the group is to move towards the professionalization of health management And to do so, it is necessary to generate knowledge and seek practical solutions in a rigorous manner, that is, to conduct research.

Why should companies bet on research, and specifically, on your group?

Betting on more efficient management of health resources has a strong economic impactThe economic volume generated by any clinician in his daily activity is greater than that of many small and medium-sized businesses and, therefore, Health management is a highly topical issue of enormous social relevance.

Advice for someone starting out in healthcare research?

From my point of view, a researcher who is beginning his journey in the field of health management You must be curious to know what is happening, enthusiastic and perseverant. to try to solve the problems that are detected and always trying to work as a team.