01.07.2025
With the presidency AUH will lead the collaboration among 11 of Europe’s – and some of the world’s – most renowned university hospitals until November 2025.
This is a task that AUH’s hospital CEO, Thomas Balle Kristensen, is looking forward to:
- All European countries, to varying degrees, face the same fundamental challenges: an aging population, more patients with complex care pathways, and increasing pressure on healthcare resources.
- In that context, EUHA is more important than ever. The alliance brings together some of the strongest university hospitals in Europe – and by standing together, we can inspire each other professionally, collaborate on concrete initiatives, and speak with a strong voice in the European health policy debate. Leading this cooperation over the next six months is therefore both an exciting and a very meaningful task for AUH, he says.
Value-based healthcare in focus
The presidency gives AUH the opportunity to influence the alliance's agenda, and during its term, one topic in particular will be in focus: value-based care and phasing out treatments that offer the least value.
- During our presidency, we’ll focus on leading wise choices in healthcare – what we in Denmark call ‘Choosing Wisely’ and other related initiatives. Essentially, it’s about de-implementation and improving quality by doing less of what benefits patients the least, says Thomas Balle Kristensen.
- One of the core roles of a university hospital is to develop new treatments and practices – so we also have a responsibility to continually evaluate what we can choose to stop doing while still helping patients.
The EUHA presidency runs until November 2025, when AUH will hand over the role to Helsinki University Hospital.
At the upcoming Members’ Assembly in November at AUH, the goal is to develop a shared overview and joint recommendations on leading wise choices in value-based healthcare. The final recommendations will be discussed and approved by the member hospitals in November.
This work aims to unite the alliance around a common approach to de-implementation of low-value based care . It will be used to formulate clinical recommendations and bring the alliance’s proposals to relevant authorities and decision-makers across the member countries and the EU.
Three questions about EUHA and the presidency
Answered by CEO at Aarhus University Hospital Thomas Balle Kristensen.
What does AUH’s EUHA membership mean for patients and the Danish healthcare system?
- I see EUHA as a fiber-optic network linking some of Europe’s strongest hospitals. It gives us immediate and often very informal access to knowledge, methods, and perspectives from truly exceptional institutions – and that strengthens us professionally at AUH.
- When we improve locally at AUH, that improvement spreads regionally and nationally as part of a knowledge and competency chain. What we gain through EUHA must be passed on – and in the end, this professional uplift benefits both patients and the broader healthcare system.
What will AUH bring to the table during the presidency?
- We’re putting the leadership of wise choices – or leading wise choices in value-based healthcare – on the agenda in EUHA. It’s about identifying how we as hospitals can do less of what delivers the least value to patients.
- That requires us to question our own habits and practices – and to talk to each other as experts and professionals. How do we know what brings value? And if we know, how do we stop doing what doesn’t?
- If we in EUHA can unite around this and formulate a shared description of the challenge and ideas for addressing it, it could help drive meaningful change in healthcare systems across Europe.
What’s the most important aspect of EUHA cooperation?
- Beyond access to some of the world’s most skilled hospitals, the cooperation is also about having a strong, unified voice. When we stand together as 11 of Europe’s most renowned university hospitals, we can reach a critical mass and offer credible approaches to tackling key issues
- It allows us to put important topics on the agenda and help shape the framework for the future healthcare landscape in Europe – to the benefit of both healthcare systems and patients. That’s not something we could achieve to the same extent on our own
- At the same time, it strengthens our ability to attract research funding – including from the EU. When we collaborate with other hospitals in the alliance, we’re in a stronger position and have the professional weight needed to succeed with major grant applications and development projects. That’s a crucial lever for both innovation and future treatment offerings.
Facts about EUHA
The European University Hospital Alliance (EUHA) is a network of European university hospitals that all hold leading positions in treatment, research, education, and innovation.
The alliance was established in 2017 by nine hospitals to strengthen collaboration and support the development of Europe’s top university hospitals. AUH was invited to join in November 2022 as the only Danish member.
Through joint research and development projects, knowledge sharing, best practice exchange, new workflows, and staff mobility, the alliance contributes to mutual learning and skills development across borders. EUHA’s goal is to create new clinical solutions and help address global health challenges – thereby paving the way for a more efficient, sustainable, and integrated healthcare system in Europe.
Today, EUHA consists of 11 university hospitals in the following countries: Spain, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Finland, and Denmark.