Strengthening Health Workforce planning through synergies: HEROES meets the Italian TSI Health HUB – JA HEROES

The Italian EU Resources Hub for sustainable investing in health: a case study on health workforce and smart programming tool using AI – “TSI Health Hub” is a new multi-annual project co-financed by the European Commission through the Technical Support Instrument (TSI), which supports the Italian health authorities in developing a national hub for sustainable investment in health, with a dedicated focus on strategic workforce planning. Central to this vision is the adoption of digital tools and artificial intelligence to enable more effective governance and forward-looking decision-making in the health sector.

The TSI Health Hub project is being implemented in close collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, and the European Commission’s DG REFORM. It also brings together a wide range of key Italian institutions: the Ministry of Health, ProMIS – Programma Mattone Internazionale Salute, the National Institute of Health (ISS), AGENAS, the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, and the Department for European Affairs of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

The presence of AGENAS, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies in both HEROES and the TSI Health Hub ensures strong alignment between national-level planning efforts and the broader strategic outlook for the Italian health workforce. This collaboration reinforces the continuity between current initiatives and long-term national strategies, enabling synergies that are both evidence-informed and policy-relevant.

From 18 to 20 June 2025, Lisa Baldini, Project Manager of AGENAS participated in the Kick-Off Meeting of the TSI Health Hub project in Rome and presented the progress made within HEROES.

Areas of convergence between HEROES and ITALIAN TSI HEALTH HUB

One of the key areas of convergence concerns the enhancement of national forecasting systems. In the context of HEROES, Italy has developed an advanced stock-and-flows model for supply and demand forecasting over a 20-year horizon, while AGENAS is testing a complementary staffing needs model at the organizational level. These innovations align with the TSI Health Hub’s goals of integrating data and adopting AI-assisted solutions to ensure resilient, equitable, and needs-based health workforce distribution.

Lisa Baldini, moreover, underlined the achievements of the HEROES Joint Action, with a focus on Italy’s experience in developing a multi-level strategy for workforce planning. Key elements included:

the integration of the national forecasting model for training needs,
the development of tools for organizational-level staffing estimation,
the advancement of data governance practices to ensure reliable, real-time workforce intelligence

These elements, co-developed and tested through HEROES, are now being strategically extended and embedded within the TSI framework.

AGENAS’s active engagement in both projects enables a bidirectional flow of knowledge: the tools and methodologies tested under HEROES are directly informing the Italian TSI roadmap, while lessons from the TSI pilot can enhance HEROES’ Action Plans, particularly in WP5. Furthermore, the collaboration fosters a broader EU-level reflection on how to embed sustainability, data governance, and capacity building into long-term HWF strategies.

This synergy represents a tangible example of how EU initiatives can collaborate to maximize impact, reduce duplication, and create sustainable, long-term solutions for health workforce challenges.