The cost of delivering value-based healthcare in Australia is on the rise as a result of patients becoming more confident in demanding personalised, affordable services from local clinics. As such, physicians and clinics need to look for new strategies to ensure the continued viability of their organisations by turning to patient care models that increase efficiency and ultimately relieve pressure on their bottom line.
Volume vs. Value
Modern healthcare systems must move beyond a low-value, high-volume, feet-through-the-door approach in order to be sustainable stepping into the future, focusing instead on high-value care models, as reflected by the Queensland Clinical Senate’s findings in March 2016. While change can be challenging in a climate where patient-care can be centred around traditional ideas of engagement, many practices are moving away from one-stop-shop style offerings, reducing the number of in-clinic services while cultivating a network of trusted partners to deliver high-value care. To thrive in the current and future healthcare environments clinicians need to focus on striving to achieve the best possible experience for their patients, delivering tailored experiences and identifiable outcomes.
The ingredients of a well-functioning health system
3 Steps to achieving value-based healthcare:
1. Adopt a patient-centric healthcare model
A patient-centric care model embodies the notion of patients as owners of their medical data and as active partners in their health. This gives them more opportunities to be involved in their healthcare journey, and, through the use of technology, allows different care providers to all come together in a connected care ecosystem.
2. Improving patient care through technology
Outdated workflows and technologies are inefficient and can cost your practice time, money and stress. The Australian Productivity Commission agrees, finding inadequate data flows prevent clinicians from delivering value-based patient care, leading to the delaying adoption of improved processes and revenue saving lessons. By keeping your systems and technology up-to-date, you’re:
- Eliminating the excessive administrative workload that is burdensome to your team.
- Introducing smarter information collection and sharing, thus improving the speed of patient care.
- Freeing up time for face-to-face patient care.
3. Document processes to establish accurate benchmarks and allow for ongoing analysis
- When a patient leaves a consult, what do the next steps of their treatment look like and how involved are your clinicians across the entire patient journey?
- How long does it take to treat a patient?
- What does the average medical bill look like (and how much)?
Documenting processes and outcomes gives you long-term insights into the steps, costs and measures required to achieve better patient outcomes and run an efficient practice.
Using this information, you can establish accurate benchmarks and identify areas of your practice that are draining money, staff and resources, or don’t appear viable in the long-run. These could be specific treatments or different departments in a larger organisation. Having visibility here can allow clinics to:
- Reduce overall medical operation costs by establishing a revenue-model that is influenced by patient outcomes and not just the hours worked.
- Better forecast upcoming demand and expectations of revenue month on month.
- Establish frameworks and optimise work processes.
- Invest in the right resources and work closely with patients and partners to deliver better patient experiences.
Over to you
Value-based healthcare delivery is becoming increasingly prominent as practices work towards finding a smarter approach to providing quality healthcare. As our population ages and chronic illnesses become more prevalent, future-focused clinicians are critical to the stability, efficiency and quality of healthcare in Australia. Adopting the correct mindset is as important as investing in technologies that support sustainable growth - thinking like an entrepreneur is pivotal in improving patient experience and boosting financial outcomes. We’ve created a useful guide to tackle this topic – simply click below to download your complimentary copy!
