What Healthcare Value Is All About

By Maryellen Lamb


Healthcare value is determined by the outcomes attained by a patient for each dollar spent. The knowledge of this important factor is essential in improving the nature of medical care services provided. It facilitates reorganization of the care services, process improvement and promotes the use of proper cost reduction methods that favor the new approaches to both reimbursement and outcomes. This program has brought together all the stakeholders as they struggle to find new approaches to measure cost and outcomes

The healthcare system aims at improving the value for patients. To improve the services offered in the care system the providers have to focus on three key factors. The delivery of care needs to be centered on the patient, payments for these services should be made with respect to the outcomes and transparency in treatment cost and quality should be emphasized. The consumers should be provided with adequate information on the cost and nature of the services available.

The care system has taken the initiative to embrace transparency. This has given consumers a wide range of information based on which they make comparisons of the price and quality of the many stakeholders. The consumers are now able to make the right choices. This reliable information empowers the choice of consumers and motivates the whole system to offer affordable services.

Consumers have adopted new strategies to counter the ever rising costs and provide them with an opportunity to benefit from their investment. They have developed a culture of health where they are able to participate actively. They monitor the behaviour and consumption of care services through the realignment of incentives. The delivery of these services is return oriented and the consumers are now working with service providers to minimize costs and better outcomes.

The idea of quality has generated a lot of confusion. In practice, quality is defined as the adherence to specified rules and regulations and the measurement is based on care process. Process measures are not effective in showing true outcomes thus providers do not get the information necessary for innovation.

The failure to prioritize improvement of returns in the delivery of care services and to measure it has hindered innovation in this sector and led to poor methods of management which have led to increased costs. The measurement allows for reforms to the reimbursement system to provide bundled payments covering chronic conditions, full care cycle or periods of several years. It is important for providers to align reimbursement with value for them to be able to achieve good outcomes and also be able to account for substandard care.

Multiple organizations are involved in the provision of medical services. Among the many of these units, there is no single one that reflects the limits within which true value is achieved. The common denomination for measuring it should take into consideration all the activities that work jointly to meet all the needs of a patient. These needs are specified by the medical situation of the patient.

There are numerous ways of measuring healthcare value. These methods depend on the nature of medical care involved. To determine the value for preventive and primary care a group of patients with similar needs is studied. For medical conditions involving many providers the value is shared among them.




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