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Roman di Francesco w hoch 2 GmbH, Bern

Portrait

A strong team: Roman di Francesco with project managers Philipp Kronenberg and Benjamin Steinweg.

Roman di Francesco, you’re a member of the w hoch 2 management board. What are the core competencies of your research and evaluation institute?

We offer empirically sound, practice-relevant solutions based on tailor-made research. We make scientific methods practicable for customers in all of Switzerland’s language regions. We have expertise in psychology, sociology, political science, economics and computer science. In addition to national evaluations, we combine quantitative and qualitative surveys with data science and technological innovation. Human experience and behaviour are always at the heart of our work. I believe this combination and the development of our own software makes us unique.

What are your areas of expertise? And what motivates you about your work in particular?

My areas of expertise are healthcare quality measurement, data science projects and market research. I find it extremely motivating that my job has a tangible impact. Our analyses under the ANQ mandate directly affect quality and treatment in hospitals and clinics. What also motivates me is that as a team, we all pull in the same direction and share the same enthusiasm for our work.

What kind of work does w hoch 2 carry out for the ANQ?

w hoch 2 has been working for the ANQ since 2016. Measuring symptom burden and freedom-restricting measures in psychiatry were our ‘original’ projects. Then came the logistics for measuring patient satisfaction in acute care, adult psychiatry and rehabilitation. Since 2021, we have also been able to help the ANQ carry out pilot measurements in intermediate outpatient psychiatry and to measure satisfaction in child and adolescent psychiatry. The work is very diverse and ranges from supporting hospitals and clinics to collecting, reviewing and analysing data and writing result reports.

How would you describe w hoch 2’s business relationship with the ANQ?

Our close business relationship is personal, uncomplicated and flexible. We maintain regular contact with almost all the ANQ office staff. Since 2017, I have also been able to advise the Psychiatry Quality Committee on methodological and statistical issues. For me, working closely with the experts of the Swiss psychiatry world is a privilege and I appreciate their valuable input.

«Working closely with the experts of the Swiss psychiatry world is a privilege.»

The moniQ dashboard is one of your team’s developments. What does moniQ do?

moniQ enables psychiatric clinics to review their measurement data throughout the year and to share it with us online. The aim was both to reduce the clinics’ workload and to improve the quality of the data. Previously, the clinics only had a limited time window in which to identify any data deficiencies. It was then usually too late for troubleshooting. Now, they can react in good time if there are any problems. The data quality has also drastically improved. Soon it will be possible to do even more with moniQ in psychiatry.

What does that mean? Are new functions planned?

In the future, psychiatric clinics will also be able to analyse the results of their own measurements via moniQ. They are already able to do this for patient satisfaction. It’s our contribution to the digitalisation of healthcare.

How else do you support the clinics when it comes to quality measurements?

Since 2021, the psychiatric clinics have been able to obtain additional analyses from us. We created this service together with the ANQ. The ANQ wants to make the best possible use of the measurement data for quality development. Independently from the ANQ, we also offer the clinics a digital tool, which can be used to record symptom burden online, both from the viewpoint of patients and of those treating them.

You are also laying the groundwork for the further development of the ANQ measurements. What analyses did you carry out in 2021?

For short stays in inpatient psychiatry, an analysis was carried out which showed that assessing the symptom burden proved to be useful from a stay of just 24 hours. A research paper was also written on this subject. In addition, we were able to conduct research for the ANQ’s geriatric psychiatry expert group, which focused on how to measure symptom burden in patients who are incapable of judgement. I find these issues enormously important. Being able to play my part in addressing them means a great deal to me.

«moniQ is a contribution to the digitalisation of healthcare.»

Roman di Francesco, M.Sc. in Psychology, studied psychology at the University of Bern. After completing his master’s degree, he worked in market research and later in data science. He lectures on psychology, data science and market research at several universities. He has been working at w hoch 2 since 2016. As a member of the management board, he is responsible for complex research and analysis projects as well as for the development of innovative software solutions.

Photos: © Geri Krischker / ANQ