- EIT Health launches an in-depth framework for adopting and accelerating Value-Based Health Care (VBHC) across Europe
- The framework advises how healthcare services can improve patient outcomes and reduce wasted resources
- It is published within a new handbook that draws on the experiences of over 240 European VBHC pioneers across 22 countries in Europe, including 32 site visits in leading medical centres.
A new framework defining the key steps critical to implementing VBHC in health services has been launched by EIT Health. Designed using insights from established pioneers in the field, it aims to help health care providers fully realise the opportunity presented by VBHC and drive forward a medical culture shift in Europe.
Rather than the traditional volume-based health care provision that is modelled on fee-for-product or service, VBHC provides a methodology for measurable health and care outcomes that make the biggest difference to patients, while driving cost efficiencies within health services. The World Health Organization (WHO) and The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimate that around 30% of resources currently spent on health care are wasted on avoidable complications, unnecessary treatments or administrative inefficiencies.[1] Tackling this head on, the publication from EIT Health aims to kick-start change towards measurable value, and therefore support more sustainable models.
Included within EIT Health’s latest publication “Implementing Value-Based Health Care: Handbook for Pioneers”, an ‘Implementation Matrix’ sets out a clear and structured framework for health care providers to follow.[2] It defines, in detail, five key steps to help health care providers activate and accelerate VBHC – recording, comparing, rewarding, improving and partnering – and captures a shared language across nine building blocks for describing, visualising and successfully implementing a value-based solution. It outlines how to measure and maximise the outcomes that matter to patients, addressing the main challenges such as lack of standardised outcome data and resistance to change.
Jan Philipp-Beck, CEO at EIT Health, comments: “In recent years, there has been a growing interest in VBHC in the health community in Europe; however the focus has been on why it is the way forward, rather than how we effectively implement such a change. This is why we created this framework, to provide an in-depth guide on how health care managers and practitioners can orient efforts and resources towards necessary transformation. Currently, many of Europe’s health care systems measure the wrong things, which can lead to inefficiencies in cost, time and resources, not to mention the impact on the patient. Metrics focus on volume rather than patient outcomes, and this is simply unsustainable for health care systems. At EIT Health, we are uniquely placed to connect successful pioneers in the field with those just starting out, as well as share tools and best practices to help measure outcomes to drive this cultural shift within Europe’s health care systems.”
The EIT Health handbook has been directed by Professor Gregory Katz, Chair of Innovation & Value in Health at the University of Paris School of Medicine, and devised in collaboration with esteemed experts from across leading European organisations. The new framework is based on several VBHC case studies from some of Europe’s leading health organisations, including: Santeon, Basel University Hospital, Uppsala Academic Hospital, Martini Klinik, New Karolinska Hospital, Diabeter, Netherlands Heart Registry, Gla:d, Menzis and NHS Wales.
Professor Gregory Katz adds, “Today in Europe, VBHC pioneers are choosing to take bold action to measure, compare and improve patient outcomes. This momentum is mainly building from the bottom up, through entrepreneurial initiatives. As care results vary tremendously between therapeutic approaches and medical teams, transparent outcome benchmarks enable the detection of medical innovations and the reduction of inappropriate care. There are good reasons to be impatient for improving health care through VBHC, but there are also reasons to be humble. VBHC is still in its infancy, and successful implementation takes time. Becoming a VBHC early adopter opens the opportunity to learn proactively and spearhead high-value care.”
The handbook was commissioned by EIT Health under its Think Tank thought leadership forum, which explores the most pressing topics for the health of Europe and its citizens. The EIT Health Think Tank brings health care leaders together, across disciplines and borders, to prepare the ground for life-changing innovation and identify the next opportunity for a transformation in how health care is delivered. The launch of the handbook marks the first in a series of activities being launched by EIT Health that are designed to support a step-change in the provision of health care and integrate VBHC as the new norm across Europe.
View the handbook and Implementation Matrix here: https://eithealth.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Implementing-Value-Based-Healthcare-In-Europe_web-4.pdf
[1] OECD Report 2017. Tackling Wasteful Spending on Health; WHO Report 2010, Health System Financing: the Path to Universal Coverage.
[2] EIT Health, Implementing Value-Based Health Care in Europe: Handbook for Pioneers (Director: Gregory Katz) 2020.
This article was first published on 26 May by EIT Health.
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