Value-based Reimbursement as a Mechanism to Achieve Social and Financial Impact in the Healthcare System

Value-based reimbursement strategies have been considered in the continuous search for establishing a sustainable healthcare system. For models that have been already implemented, success is demonstrated according to specific details of the patients' consumption profile based on their clinical condition and the risk balance among all the stakeholders. From fee-for-service to value-based bundled payment strategies, the manner in which accurate patient-level cost and outcome information are used varies, resulting in different risk agreements between stakeholders. A thorough understanding of value-based reimbursement agreements that views such agreements as a mechanism for risk management is critical to the task of ensuring that the healthcare system generates social impacts while ensuring financial sustainability. This perspective article focuses on a critical analysis of the impact of value-based reimbursement strategies on the healthcare system from a social and financial perspective. A critical analysis of the literature about value-based reimbursement was used to identify how these strategies impact healthcare systems. The literature analysis was followed by the conceptual description of value-based reimbursement agreements as mechanisms for achieving social and financial impacts on the healthcare system. There is no single successful path toward payment reform. Payment reform is used as a strategy to re-engineer the way in which the system is organized to provide care to patients, and its successful implementation leads to cultural, social, and financial changes. Stakeholders have reached consensus regarding the claim that the use of value reimbursement strategies and business models could increase efficiency and generate social impact by reducing healthcare inequity and improving population health. However, the successful implementation of such new strategies involves financial and social risks that require better management by all the stakeholders. The use of cutting-edge technologies are essential advances to manage these risks and must be paired with strong leadership focusing on the directive to improve population health and, consequently, value. Payment reform is used as a mechanism to re-engineer how the system is organized to deliver care to patients, and its successful implementation is expected to result in social and financial modifications to the healthcare system

Lean Healthcare applied toward turning a Pharmacy Service Patient Centered

Pharmaceutical service optimization requires a comprehensive understanding of resource usage. The aim of the study is to analyze how Lean Healthcare principles can contribute toward turning a pharmacy service patient-centered and value oriented. Understand how clinical pharmacists’ resources are effectively used by patients in an academic hospital using lean tools, such as value stream mapping and activity designation matrix, determine the amount of time each professional is involved in specific activities, and identify activities that add value. The data were mainly obtained through interviews with professionals, time-motion observational studies, chronoanalysis and meetings with the head of the unit. A process flow map is designed for clinical pharmacy services, and it considers the relationship between the activities and their added value base. An exploration of the map shows that the activity “clinical rounds” is the most time consuming (27%) and not necessarily considered value-added by both parties (pharmacists staff and head of service). It is notable the opportunity the service has to prioritize the high-risk patients and to make a good time management; furthermore, activities that are of high value to patients are being performed and monitored by interns. The role of pharmacists should evolve from now on to be congruent with the new realities of healthcare. When value is questioned, we are encouraged to reflect on the activities engaged in by professional pharmacists in a clinical/surgical unit of a hospital. Through these tools, we could infer how the system is engaged and how it can be transformed toward added value.Introduction. Pharmaceutical service optimization requires a comprehensive understanding of resource usage. The aim of the study is to analyze how Lean Healthcare principles can contribute toward turning a pharmacy service patient-centered and value oriented. Methods. Understand how clinical pharmacists’ resources are effectively used by patients in an academic hospital using lean tools, such as value stream mapping and activity designation matrix, determine the amount of time each professional is involved in specific activities, and identify activities that add value. The data were mainly obtained through interviews with professionals, time-motion observational studies, chronoanalysis and meetings with the head of the unit. Results. A process flow map is designed for clinical pharmacy services, and it considers the relationship between the activities and their added value base. An exploration of the map shows that the activity “clinical rounds” is the most time consuming (27%) and not necessarily considered value-added by both parties (pharmacists staff and head of service). It is notable the opportunity the service has to prioritize the high-risk patients and to make a good time management; furthermore, activities that are of high value to patients are being performed and monitored by interns. Conclusions. The role of pharmacists should evolve from now on to be congruent with the new realities of healthcare. When value is questioned, we are encouraged to reflect on the activities engaged in by professional pharmacists in a clinical/surgical unit of a hospital. Through these tools, we could infer how the system is engaged and how it can be transformed toward added value

The Brazilian policy of withholding treatment for ADHD is probably increasing health and social costs

Objective: To estimate the economic consequences of the current Brazilian government policy for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) treatment and how much the country would save if treatment with immediate-release methylphenidate (MPH-IR), as suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO), was offered to patients with ADHD. Method: Based on conservative previous analyses, we assumed that 257,662 patients aged 5 to 19 years are not receiving ADHD treatment in Brazil. We estimated the direct costs and savings of treating and not treating ADHD on the basis of the following data: a) spending on ADHD patients directly attributable to grade retention and emergency department visits; and b) savings due to impact of ADHD treatment on these outcomes. Results: Considering outcomes for which data on the impact of MPH-IR treatment are available, Brazil is probably wasting approximately R$1.841 billion/year on the direct consequences of not treating ADHD in this age range alone. On the other hand, treating ADHD in accordance with WHO recommendations would save approximately R$ 1.163 billion/year. Conclusions: By increasing investments on MPH-IR treatment for ADHD to around R$ 377 million/year, the country would save approximately 3.1 times more than is currently spent on the consequences of not treating ADHD in patients aged 5 to 19 years