Indices should inspire to action
A value-oriented healthcare system is a system focused on a quality improvement, on a better patient experience and on greater effectiveness in managing costs. Disciplinary cash management practices must develop naturally, as despite of the constant increase of the investment in healthcare, internal costs and demand for healthcare services are raising in an equally high rate. In order to control these areas, we must have access to indicators that can be observed within an international context, as they allow the comparison between our internal results and the results achieved by other countries. These Indices are, therefore, benchmarks that serve as starting points for a change. We shouldn’t be ashamed of our poorer performance, but instead, treat the achieved scores as a source of motivation. Our focus should not be only concentrated on improving the position taken in the Index table, but rather aim at strategic improvement of the system that relies on developing the elements that are most crucial to health results.
The concept of value-oriented healthcare is currently subject for numerous discussions. It has emerged in the USA, the country that invests the most in healthcare. Americans were the first to become aware of the fact that money is not
the answer for all the problems. An indicator that evaluates the effectiveness of healthcare and medical interventions must be found. This indicator is something obvious (although it might be sometimes overlooked) – it is the health status, for example, all parameters assessing the amount of health capital and the ability of recovering it. This solution exists within the national socio-economic system, not just in the healthcare system, as health is its vital component.
Health status is one of the indicators that proves the effectiveness of the governmental policy. I’m happy to see that the Indices take in account numerous measurements describing the manner in which the state is organised and do not refer directly to the healthcare system.
Monitoring, evaluating and comparison are fixed components of any learning process and quality improvement. Although sometimes it is not an easy process, and the achieved results may not be satisfactory or pleasant for everyone, it is a process
worth joining. In my opinion, the Indices are an inestimable source of inspiration that can be used to determine where the improvement is needed. I believe that they can have an extraordinary power to arrange and direct measures undertaken in the healthcare sector. It just need us to transform stress that arise from being graded into inspiration and motivation to take action.
I hope that the Indices will be further developed and will take into account a bigger amount of indicators that will be used in measuring the effectiveness of the undertaken medical interventions and organisational measures. The measurement of
results should be an innate feature of any decision taken within the healthcare system. The Breast Cancer Index and the Healthcare Sustainability Index will serve as an useful tool for transforming and improving our healthcare system.
