2.H. Scientific session: Sustaining hybrid care in routine and crisis times: Lessons from the RAPIDE Horizon Europe Project

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a rapid transformation in healthcare delivery, with hybrid care models blending digital and face-to-face services becoming essential to maintain non-COVID care. Although these models proved valuable in many settings, their implementation was largely reactive and inconsistent. This workshop, led by the RAPIDE project team, explores why hybrid care was not sustained beyond the pandemic and what is required to embed it effectively into both routine and emergency healthcare systems across Europe. It also draws on cross-country insights to examine what patients, healthcare professionals, and informal carers need for hybrid care to be practical, acceptable, and effective in everyday practice. The session begins with an overview of the RAPIDE project, which examines how health systems responded to non-pandemic care needs during COVID-19, highlighting the role of hybrid care in maintaining access to essential services, and how it can be optimised to strengthen future health system resilience. Next, findings from a scoping review explore how health systems across Europe adapted service delivery through digital innovations, illustrating how structured digital care flows such as teleconsultations and remote monitoring supported continuity of care across a broad range of health disciplines during the pandemic. This is followed by an analysis of why hybrid care models were not sustained beyond the pandemic, drawing on insights from healthcare providers, public health officials and patient representatives across seven European countries. It highlights challenges related to infrastructure, policy, regulation, equitable access and digital exclusion, and outlines key enablers for supporting the long-term integration of hybrid care into both routine and emergency services. Finally, the session presents insights from patients, healthcare professionals and informal carers in Malta, Slovenia and the Netherlands, highlighting their experiences, preferences and support needs when navigating hybrid care pathways for chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart failure. The presentations offer a cohesive narrative on the challenges and opportunities of hybrid care, providing an integrated perspective on the conditions required for its long-term success. The session includes four concise presentations followed by a moderated interactive discussion to reflect on cross-country experiences and promote shared learning on strengthening healthcare systems in both crisis settings and routine care delivery. Key messages • Hybrid care proved valuable during the pandemic but remains unsustainable without system-wide planning, integration, and policy. • Patients, healthcare professionals, and care givers call for coordinated digital and in-person services, inclusive digital tools, and streamlined pathways to support effective hybrid care in practice.