24 October 2019

In September 2019 at the HFMA Wales Annual Conference, Prof John Moxham shared what we are learning from the approach in Wales to implementing Value Based Healthcare. Our Deputy Director of Programme Delivery, Joseph Casey, share some of these lessons.

Value Based Healthcare is one of our cross-cutting themes at King’s Health Partners. Over the last ten years, we have met with thousands of people from all over the world to discuss how to develop and implement approaches to improving health by focussing on value (which is defined as the “equitable, sustainable and transparent use of the available resources to achieve better outcomes and experiences for every person”).

Turning theory into practice has proven challenging for many organisations and health systems. One of the most impressive examples of where these challenges have been overcome is Aneurin Bevan University Health Board in Wales. Over the last four years, the team has taken a pragmatic approach to implementing value based healthcare across pathways of care, starting with one in 2015 and scaling this to eighteen pathways last year.

The progress that you have been able to make is inspirational, and there is so much that we and others should learn from you! Mind you, there is still a lot more for you to do too – we must all keep on working to improve value by focussing on the outcomes that matter to people.

  - Prof John Moxham, Director of Value Based Healthcare, King’s Health Partners.

We think that there are three critical success factors to the approach that is now being spread across Wales.

The first is visible, shared leadership. The evidence from our own experience is that strong support from senior leadership is critical to adopting value based healthcare. At Aneurin Bevan University Hospital Board, there was shared commitment from the board and executive team alongside the appointment of accountable clinical leadership to develop and deliver the strategy  

You would not have known who was the Medical Director and who was the Director of Finance – both spoke repeatedly about the importance of sharing outcomes that matter to patients, and that we all need to understand the resources we use to continue to improve outcomes and experience.

- Prof John Moxham

In developing a culture that focussed on outcomes and value, a dedicated team worked with patients and clinical teams to understand the outcomes that matter to people. However, it was recognised that this is not sufficient in itself, and the organisation made long-term investments in time, effort and resource to develop the capability to share patient reported outcomes and understand resources across complete pathways of care.

Get the relevant people around the table, share information, and let them get on with it.

-  Heart Failure clinician, Aneurin Bevan University Health Boards

Finally – and critically – the development and implementation of the strategy has always had patients at the centre of the design, delivery and improvement. This was typified by the conference that Aneurin Bevan University Health Board held in April of this year, where the stroke survivors choir performed.

The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board experience is one of the case studies in the training on value based healthcare that we have developed at King’s Health Partners. If you would like to register your interest, please email khp-programmesupport AT kcl.ac.uk.

To learn more about Value Based Healthcare, please see our website for:

Learn more about Value Based Healthcare at King's Health Partners.