The Future of Value-Based Healthcare in Ireland

Collaboration is key to implementing the solutions needed for a sustainable healthcare system that effectively serves its population’s needs.

With healthcare systems facing significant challenges as demand for services grows, the question of value has never been so pertinent.

Value based healthcare frameworks (VBHC) seek to improve patient care, centred on improving patient outcomes and reducing costs.¹

The opportunities that lie within VBHC are generally well understood among Irish health policymakers and other stakeholders. However, lack of clarity around outcome definitions, regulations, measurement, logistics and other considerations have slowed its uptake.²

Working in partnership with the Healthcare Outcomes Research Centre at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and Novartis Ireland, we created The Future of Value-Based Healthcare in Ireland webinar series to generate discussion and engagement among key stakeholders about VBHC.

Over the course of this three-part webinar series, experts discussed what a VBHC system might look like in an Irish context. International examples were shared to demonstrate what value-based health arrangements, such as a greater focus on disease prevention, outcomes, and patient centricity, could mean for the Irish health services.

Chaired by Tony O’Brien, Business Post Columnist and Former Director General of the HSE, the series focused on key topics such as: value-based assessment, pay for performance, real world data and patient-centred decision-making.

Despite the technical nature of the topics, there was great interest and engagement with the series by people working within the health service and beyond. Almost 600 people attended the live webinars and a further 600+ watched the recordings.

Audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive. In a follow up survey, 91% said they would recommend the series, 87% said they would be keen to join future webinars and 78% said the series helped them in their understanding of VBHC.

The success of the webinar series hinges on our close collaboration with the Healthcare Outcomes Research Centre at the RCSI and Novartis Ireland in the planning, organisation, delivery and evaluation of this series.

RCSI feedback: “It was fantastic to be involved in the organisation of such a fruitful discussion about VBHC in Ireland with our valued partners Janssen Sciences Ireland and Novartis Ireland.”

Watch the series back and access presentation materials on the RCSI website: https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/research-and-innovation/research/research-centres-and-networks/healthcare-outcomes-research-centre/webinar-series

References:

1. Cleveland Clinic, Value-Based Care. Available at: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/15938-value-based-care. Last accessed: December 2022

2. The implementation of value-based healthcare: a scoping review. Available at: https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-022-07489-2. Last accessed: December 2022