Basic Facts About Healthcare Value

By Maryellen Lamb


The healthcare value for a given patient is determined by the outcomes of the patient per dollar spent. Information on this factor is essential in improving the delivery of health care services. It helps to improve the entire process, aids in restructuring of the care system and also supports the implementation of new reimbursement and outcomes approaches that are very cost effective. Senior leaders from numerous care organizations have come together to deliberate on how to handle cost measurement and outcomes

The principal goal of the care system is to improve the value for consumers. To achieve better health care the stakeholders in this sector should focus on three important elements. The delivery of this care should be designed around the patient, payment should be based on outcomes and there should be transparency in the quality of treatment and cost. These consumers have the right to know the cost and quality of the services provided.

Transparency is becoming a major factor in the care system. This has allowed customers access to adequate information which has enabled them to make comparisons of the prices and quality of services offered by the different providers. The patients are now able to make informed choices. The provision of reliable information has further empowered customer consumer choice and revolutionized the entire system.

Consumers have come up with new mechanisms to ensure they are able to benefit from their healthcare investment. These mechanisms counter the ever growing costs of the services offered. Some of these mechanisms include the creation of a culture of health in which they have an active role. The incentives have been realigned to improve health behaviour and to control the consumption of medical care. The delivery of services is based on the quality and they are also working closely with providers to reduce costs and achieve better outcomes.

The concept of quality has become a major source of confusion. Conventionally, quality refers to adherence to predefined guidelines and the measurement focuses mainly on care process. Process measures do not give the true outcomes and therefore providers are not able to obtain information needed for learning and improvement.

The failure to give priority to the improvement of this factor in the manner in which services are offered and the failure to determine this return has prevented innovation. The management policies being used in some firms have increased the overhead costs. The knowledge of this factor is essential to reforming the reimbursement system to allow for integrated payments covering several years, terminal conditions and all the treatment process. Reimbursement should be aligned with this factor to improve outcomes and to provide a basis for accounting 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 several methods that can be used to measure healthcare value. The method chosen depends on the medical care offered. Primary and preventive care requires the use of patient groups with similar needs to measure the return. The value in medical conditions is usually distributed among the different providers involved.




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