Model to reduce waste in healthcare and add value

[摘要] The startling revelation that one fifth ofhealth expenditure makes little contributionto good health outcomes1 is surely a call toaction to tackle waste in the delivery of care.Across member countries of Organisation forEconomic Co-operation and Development(OECD) a significant share of healthcaresystem spending and activities are wasteful atbest, and harmful to our health at worst.1 Byway of example OECD cites, 11.7% of visitsto emergency departments (EDs) in Englandand 31.3% in Portugal are identified as ‘inappropriate’—resulting in the misappropriationof scarce healthcare resources and the inappropriate use of patient time (many of whomcould have been more appropriately treated inprimary care, without the need for a visit to anED). Secondly, the continuation of provision ofsome imaging, therapeutic and surgical procedures on an inpatient as opposed to outpatient basis further contributes to the ‘wasteful’utilisation of expensive resources and inappropriate patient admissions, when such interventions could be carried out in other settings.Combine this powerful data with the globalchallenge of healthcare financial constraints,ageing populations and the increasing burdenof chronic disease and ‘more and faster’ is notthe answer—a new approach is needed. Inorder to optimise health system performance,the Institute for Healthcare Improvement(IHI) offers the triple aim2—improving theexperience of care and the health of our populations, at the same time as lowering per capitacosts.

[学科分类] 药学

[关键词] COVID-19;diffusion of innovation;healthcare quality improvement;quality improvement