The 66th EQuiP Conference #EQUIPLinz, with the theme “The impact of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence in Family Medicine”, took place between 8-10/05/25, hosted by the Faculty of Medicine at Johannes Keppler University (JUK) —a young but ambitious institution celebrating its 10th anniversary — featuring a promising Primary Health Care Research Institute.
Outstanding work of the organizing and scientific committees led by Dr. Erika Zelko and her dedicated team.
On Thursday 8th May participants were invited to experience the diversity of Austria’s primary healthcare system through visits to three distinct practices in Upper Austria
On Friday, the Opening Ceremony began with Prof. Dr. Stefan Koch (Rektor der JKU), Dr. Peter Kowatsch (President of the Austrian General/Family Medicine Association) and Dr. Andrée Rochfort (President of EQuiP) Irish College of GPs
Dr. Andrée Rochfort (ICGP) chaired the first session “Digitalization and AI in Family Medicine” Prof. Dr. Nick Guldemond, Leiden University Medical Centre, lectured about Integrated digitally enabled person-centred and community-based health and social care services and Dr. Gertraud Leimüller, Austrian Labs for AI Trust, further explored the risks of AI applications in the healthcare sector and how to deal with them (Can we trust a machine?)
It was followed by two inspiring workshops Discover ABiMed, an online digital platform to help doctors and pharmacists improve the safety and quality of medications among elderly polymedicated patients by Hector Falcoff, Jean-Baptiste Lamy, Sophie Dubois, Thibault Triconnet (France) and Dialogue on digital care developments in general practice. Challenges and chances by Stijn Van Den Broek, Jan Jansen, Dorien Zwart (The Netherlands) where they explored the potential for an EQuiP Position Paper on Quality and Safety of digital GP care.
Dr. Erwin Rebhandl, General Practice Medical Faculty JKU Linz (Astria), chaired Friday afternoon's keynote session centered on Professional Health and Quality of Care. Dr. Andrée Rochfort (ICGP) gave an inspiring talk on Technology in the Medical Consultation: Help or Hindrance? reminding us that tech is only as good as the humans it supports, followed by Dr. Adrian Rohrbasser University of Bern (Switzerland) Building Resilience and Driving Change: Quality Circles in Practice – Face-to-Face or Online? and Dr. Reinhold Glehr Medical University of Graz (Austria) and Dr. Andrea Bitschnau-Friedl ÖGAM (Austrian Society for General Medicine) Quality Circles in Austrian Primary Care – A Tool for Orientation in a Time of Rapid Paradigm Shifts
The subsequent parallel workshops focused on how to ensure and improve the quality of primary care practices: exemplars from Austria and the Netherlands by Sarah Burgmann, Jan Jansen, Eva Potura, Eva Smolka and Quality circles run in german by Dr. Adrian Rohrbasser University of Bern (Switzerland) along with the oral presentations
Friday evening concluded with an engaging chaired in person poster presentation session showcasing innovative research with practical ideas to support everyday improvement in clinical practice
Saturday morning started with a World Café where participants were invited to answer five questions.
It was followed by paper presentations and two workshops in which Dr. Abraham Thomas, Beechfield medical centre, UK showed how to use AI to create effective teaching materials and stay up to date and Dr. Thomas Bo Drivsholm
KiAP (Danish National Quality Unit of General Practice) reflected on what we have learned From quality circles to the latest Cochrane review on Audit and Feedback.
Next a Key Speaker Session chaired by Dr. Jose-Miguel Bueno-Ortiz, SEMFYC (Spain) and Prof. Dr. Dorien Zwart, University Medical Centre Utrecht (the Netherlands) took place
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Dr. Rosemarie de La Cruz Bernabe University of Oslo (Norway) reminded us of the Ethical governance of AI in global health research: navigating challenges in AI for equitable global health research.
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Prof. Dr. Martin Mücke. Head of the Department Digitale Allgemeinmedizin University Aachen (Germany). The Future of Primary Care: Pioneering Innovation at the Campus Practice, University Hospital RWTH Aachen (Webinar)
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Phd Fellow Ulrik Bak Kirk Aarhus University, Dept. of Public Health (Denmark) Algorithm, I Presume? Navigating Expectations of AI in Family Medicine
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Angelika Widhalm. President of Bundesverband Selbsthilfe Österreich Austrian Association for Patient Advocacy and Support, umbrella organization of nationwide, topic-specific self-help and patient organizations in Austria, who reported on their activities including their contribution to the European Health Data Space approved by the EU parliament.
It concluded with the announcement of the Poster Prize Winners: 1st Award: University of Bremen. Managing antibiotics for Urinary Tract infection; 2nd award: Eurodata research group. Long COVID and 3rd Award: Bert Vaes University of Leuven. Population Management Dashboard followed by presentation of the next EQuiP Conference in Krakow (Poland) May 21st–23rd, 2026 and the release of the EQUIP Linz Conference Statement
Afterwards the EQuiP council meeting took place.
More information in https://www.qualityfamilymedicine.eu/