Question

You are a senior manager at a major health care provider in a competitive environment. The CEO of the medical center informs you that the board of directors has asked that monthly reporting not be limited to financial projections and budget-to-actual reports. Rather, the board is becoming concerned with evaluating the medical center's performance on value. The board still has a fiduciary responsibility to ensure the financial health of the organization, but members are increasingly concerned with value provided and not just cost. The CEO asks you to advise her on what she should propose to the board for such monitoring of value. As you draft your recommendations, consider the following questions: 1. Why might the board of directors want to monitor value? 2. What indicators would you recommend to the CEO? How would you gather data and evidence that might suggest increasing value for cost? 3. How would you measure success in these value-for-cost efforts?

Answer 1

1. Value in healthcare is defined as the value of the healthcare services provided and the costs of the services that are practiced. In US terms the value for healthcare is referred to as the health outcome of the patient for every dollar spent. The value of the healthcare services has to be monitored and evaluated on routine basis to ensure that the services provided by the facility is up to the standards of value and is not draining excessive budgets but also promoting better health and well being. The board of members are concerned for evaluating the value for health care at the organization for major three reasons, to ensure the performance standard of the deliveries, to monitor the cost efficiency and appropriate quality of the services, and to identify areas of improvement.

4. Value for cost efforts can be determined for the organization in different ways, by improving the quality, monitoring the performances, evaluating the patient outcomes etc. enhancing the skilled workforce, increasing digital medical care etc. To monitor the efforts made for value cost efficiency the organization can develop the feedback plan to ensure that patient satisfaction is achieve feedback can regulate and monitor patient's perception regarding value for cost, the organization can also evaluate the previous statistics for patient outcomes before development of cost efficiency plan and after implementation of plan. All these measures will help the organization to develop a well framed and appropriate quality care.