“Bringing innovation to patient. State of art and scenarios of value-based healthcare in the EU”. This is the title of the Power Breakfast held on June 28th in our Brussels office.
After a brief introduction by the Head of Innovation of the Institute for Competitiveness (I-Com), Eleonora Mazzoni, it was the turn of the guest speaker, Mr. Sylvain Giraud, Head of Performance of National Health Systems Unit, DG SANTE, European Commission.
The concept of “value-based healthcare (VBHC)” is seen as an idea to improve our healthcare systems, yet there is no single agreed on definition of VBHC. Improving performance and accountability in any field depends on having a shared goal that combines the interests and activities of all stakeholders. Achieving this is particularly hard in healthcare, where the stakeholders are numerous and often have different needs and goals, including access to services, profitability, high quality, cost containment, safety, convenience, patient-centeredness and satisfaction.
Traditionally, efficiency in healthcare has largely been interpreted in terms of cost reduction. However, more recently, healthcare policymakers in developed economies have interpreted the notion of value according to the willingness of health systems or individual health providers to follow the best clinical practice.
European governments, like those in other parts of the world, are feeling the strain on their health budgets caused by an ageing population, a rise in the prevalence of chronic conditions and the acceleration of medical innovation that have increased demand for state-of-the-art-treatments and, consequently, are putting a good deal of effort into defining frameworks for evaluating and implementing value-based healthcare.
The meeting has focused on the state of art and perspectives of value-based healthcare in the EU and the possible role of EU institutions and networks in developing it across the continent in the next future.
