Value-based healthcare – an EFPIA perspective
02.07.19
Value-based healthcare is a model for improving how we organise and deliver healthcare services that has attracted increasing attention in the European health policy debate during the last few years, most recently in a draft report from the EU Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health. But how should the "value" in value-based healthcare be defined, how can a value-based approach help European health systems become more effective, accessible and resilient, and what is the industry doing to contribute to this transition?
In 2017, the Health Ministers of the OECD concluded in their statement[1] that health systems need to become more outcomes-focused and centred around what matters to citizens and patients.
In 2017, the Health Ministers of the OECD concluded in their statement[1] that health systems need to become more outcomes-focused and centred around what matters to citizens and patients.
“The shift from a health system that is centred on providers to one that is centred on people’s individual needs and preferences has important implications for how we measure health system performance. /… / We need to invest in measures that will help us assess whether our health systems deliver what matters most to people. /…/ Measuring how care affects those outcomes that matter most to people and linking those with information already collected by the OECD, such as on expenditure, resources, safety and effectiveness of health care, will help us gain new knowledge on how to improve lives for all.”
Measuring what matters to people and patients is the fundament of what is known as Value-Based Healthcare. As reflected by the Ministerial Statement, the shift towards an outcomes approach for health has for the last few years been embraced by a growing number of stakeholders as the key to transform health systems and make them both more people-centred and more sustainable in the long term. Though there is a lively debate between stakeholders on exactly how to apply value-based healthcare models in different health systems and care settings, the core mission as expressed by the OECD health ministers - to measure outcomes that matter to people - should be an objective that all stakeholders can rally around as a key enabler for health system transformation.
Read the full EFPIA view here
[1] https://www.oecd.org/health/ministerial/ministerial-statement-2017.pdf