VBC Episode 4: Where to from here?

We conclude the series on Value Based Care with a summary and a formula to predict where VBC implementations will progress.

Due to the added value to patients and payers, that VBC offers over a fee for service model, it is clearly highly desirable to the majority of people. The challenges, associated with switching, will be overcome with the advent of digitisation, AI and automation of evidence based medicine. So how big is VBC going to get?

In jurisdictions where healthcare is largely private, where doctors have a strong professional body that can care for their (financial) interests, and where patients and payers have little power, are the least incentivised to change to a VBC. Conversely, in places where lost productivity due to illness is a measure of health system performance, where patients can elect the people that run the hospitals, and where doctors are not compensated for over-diagnosis and over-treatment are more likely to switch to VBC.

We can already see VBC being implemented in the most advanced healthcare systems in the world, such as in Sweden and others. In similar jurisdictions, VBC is currently being planned or implemented. In health systems that are less advanced, where investment in common infrastructure is rare, such as USA and India, are likely to be the laggards in switching over and the longer they wait, the harder it would be to change over.

Experiences from implementing value-based healthcare at a Swedish University Hospital – a longitudinal interview study