Roles of different organizations in implementing patient-reported measures in routine maternity care in Finland.

BACKGROUND: The integration of patient-centered care (PCC) and value-based healthcare (VBHC) principles, emphasizing personalized, responsive care and cost efficiency, is crucial in modern healthcare. Despite advocation from the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) for the global adoption of these principles through patient-reported measures (PRMs), their implementation, especially the pregnancy and childbirth (PCB) set, remains limited in maternity care. This study focuses on understanding the optimal organizational entity for integrating standard ICHOM-PCB-PRMs into routine maternity care in Finland. It aims to clarify the distribution of tasks among stakeholders and gather Finnish maternity healthcare professionals' perspectives on organizational responsibility in PRM collection. The emphasis was on identifying the optimal organizational framework for managing PRMs in maternity care. RESULTS: A total of 66 maternity healthcare professionals participated in the study, reaching a consensus that public maternity care centers in Finland should be the primary entity responsible for managing PRMs in the maternity sector. Key aspects such as confidence with the role as a mother, maternal confidence with breastfeeding, and satisfaction with the result of care were identified as crucial and should be inquired about in both public maternity care centers and hospital maternity wards. The findings highlight the importance of comprehensive and consistent attention to these PRMs across public maternity care centers and hospital maternity settings to ensure holistic and effective maternal care. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the central role of public maternity care centers in the collection and management of PRMs within Finnish maternity care, as agreed upon by the professional consensus. It underscores the importance of a consistent and holistic approach to PRM inquiry across different care settings to enhance the quality and effectiveness of maternity care. This finding is crucial for policymakers and healthcare practitioners, suggesting that reinforcing the collaborative efforts between public maternity care centers and hospital maternity wards is vital for a patient-centric, efficient healthcare system. Aligning with PCC and VBHC principles, this approach aims to improve healthcare outcomes for pregnant and postpartum women in Finland, emphasizing the need for a unified strategy in managing maternity care.

Value-based healthcare in management of chronic back pain: A multidisciplinary- and lean-based approach.

Background: Chronic back pain stands as the most common musculoskeletal disorder and a primary cause of disability in people under 45 years old. Multidisciplinary consultation offers an efficient approach to chronic back pain management compared to traditional therapeutic-rehabilitative paths. This paper aims to show the benefit of a diagnostic-therapeutic multidisciplinary program pathway for patients with chronic back pain. Methods: Twenty-six patients who underwent a second-level multidisciplinary consultation with a neurosurgeon and a pain therapist at our University Hospital were retrospectively identified from April 2023 to September 2023. The second-level multidisciplinary consultation is a second step consultation after a first consultation with a single specialist doctor (neurosurgeon, orthopedic, and pain therapist) who did not get the diagnosis and/or did not solve the painful symptom after medical or surgical treatment. Clinical outcomes, patient experience, and cost-effectiveness analysis were assessed using lean healthcare tools. Results: With the introduction of second-level multidisciplinary consultation, patients were assessed by multiple physicians during a single visit, reducing the costs of individual visits, reducing the time to obtain the diagnosis, and facilitating early agreement on a diagnostic-therapeutic plan. The lean value-based healthcare approach showed an average of 45 working days lost per single patient and a total cost per single patient with chronic back pain of € 1069 for the national health system for an average Lead time of 18 months. Questionnaire analysis on service quality and utility, along with overall satisfaction, revealed excellent resolution of back pain in 53.8% of cases and partial resolution of back pain in 11.5% of cases after second-level multidisciplinary consultation. Conclusion: Our multidisciplinary approach to chronic back pain has significantly improved healthcare efficiency. This new proposed clinical model reduces waiting times and costs and improves patient experience by improving clinical outcomes in the management of chronic back pain.

Embedding Physical Therapy in the Pediatric Primary Care Setting: Qualitative Analysis of Pediatricians' Insights on Potential Collaborative Roles and Benefits.

The growing need for collaborative healthcare teams to meet complex health challenges has led to physical therapists (PTs) being embedded in adult primary care settings for many years now. However, this model of care has not been found in pediatrics. This qualitative study sought to gain insights from pediatricians on the potential of embedding pediatric PTs in primary care. Participants were nine pediatricians practicing in both urban and rural, hospital-based and private settings. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed via thematic analysis per published methods, assuring trustworthiness. Three overarching themes emerged: pediatricians' priorities aligned with the Quadruple Aim of Healthcare, embedded PTs could fill multiple roles in pediatrics, and they could see a wide variety of patients, highlighting real potential benefits in primary care. Participants endorsed in-office focused treatments, screening to determine optimal care pathways, and ongoing patient follow-up as potential PT roles in this setting. Providers thought that PTs could help manage care for musculoskeletal complaints, high-risk infants, medically complex children, autism, and obesity. An advanced-trained PT having attributes of confidence, adaptability, and open-mindedness was desired. All participants endorsed pediatric primary care PTs as having potentially high value in their practice. This is the first known study on the potential of embedding a PT in the pediatric primary care setting, offering valuable insights from pediatricians to be leveraged in implementation planning.

Assessing cost and cost savings of teleconsultation in long-term care facilities: a time-driven activity-based costing analysis within a value-based healthcare framework.

BACKGROUND: Quebec's healthcare system faces significant challenges due to labour shortage, particularly in long-term care facilities (CHSLDs). The aging population and increasing demand for services compound this issue. Teleconsultation presents a promising solution to mitigate labour shortage, especially in small CHSLDs outside urban centers. This study aims to evaluate the cost and cost savings associated with teleconsultation in CHSLDs, utilizing the Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) model within the framework of Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC). METHODS: This study focuses on CHSLDs with fewer than 50 beds in remote regions of Quebec, where teleconsultation for nighttime nursing care was implemented. Time and cost data were collected from three CHSLDs over varying periods. The TDABC model, aligned with VBHC principles, was applied through five steps, including process mapping, estimating activity times, calculating resource costs, and determining total costs. RESULTS: Teleconsultation increased the cost per minute for nursing care compared to traditional care, attributed to additional tasks during remote consultations and potential technical challenges. However, cost savings were realized due to reduced need for onsite nursing staff during non-eventful nights. Overall, substantial savings were observed over the project duration, aligning with VBHC's focus on delivering high-value healthcare. CONCLUSIONS: This study contributes both theoretically and practically by demonstrating the application of TDABC within the VBHC framework in CHSLDs. The findings support the cost savings from the use of teleconsultation in small CHSLDs. Further research should explore the long-term sustainability and scalability of teleconsultation across different CHSLD sizes and settings within the VBHC context to ensure high-value healthcare delivery.

Effect of long-term care insurance on medical expenditure and health status: National cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Long-term care insurance (LTCI) was implemented in China to solve the elderly care problems caused by the aging population. It is crucial to evaluate the effectiveness of LTCI implementation from the perspective of value-based healthcare. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the impact of LTCI on medical care expenditure and health status in China. METHODS: We used staggered difference-in-differences (DID) analysis to analyze the effect of LTCI policy on medical expenditure and health status based on China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study data from 2011 to 2018. RESULTS: Our findings confirmed the positive contribution of LTCI policies to medical expenditures and health status. We found that the implementation of LTCI significantly reduced inpatient and outpatient expenditure, scores of self-report of health, and CESD scores by 26.3%, 12.3%, 0.103, and 0.538, respectively. It also decreased ADL scores, but the decrease was not significant. The impact of LTCI on reducing inpatient expenditure was greater for individuals aged between 65 and 80 and those residing in urban areas and eastern cities. In terms of outpatient costs, the effect of LTCI was more pronounced among median and high-income people and people living in central and eastern cities. The impact of LTCI on self-report of health is stronger for rural populations, individuals under 80, and those in central and eastern cities. For ADL scores, LTCI affected those aged 65-80 the most. About the CESD scores, LTCI had a greater impact on rural populations, people aged 45-65, median income groups, and those in eastern cities. CONCLUSIONS: Our study underscored LTCI's effectiveness in curbing medical expenditures and enhancing health status, offering valuable insights for future LTCI development in China and beyond. Accelerating the development of LTCI is conducive to improving the quality of life of the disabled elderly, enhancing the well-being of people's livelihoods, and realizing the goal of value-based healthcare.

Efficacy of a Comprehensive and Personalised Approach for Frail Older People in Valencia (Spain): A Pre-Post Controlled Trial.

Frailty is a common condition in older adults that negatively impacts health and quality of life. This study evaluated a comprehensive, personalised, and coordinated intervention under the value-based care approach to address frailty's multidimensional nature in older people in the primary care setting. It employed a pre-post randomised controlled design involving 242 frail individuals aged over 65 years living in the community in Valencia (Spain) between 2021 and 2023. Assessments were conducted at baseline, 12 months (immediately post-intervention), and 18 months. The intervention included a personalised care plan supported by technology, with monthly motivational follow-ups and plan updates by health professionals and participants. Outcomes were measured using an assessment questionnaire that included the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement dataset for the older population: physical health, physical functioning, general mental health, satisfaction with social activities and relationships, ability to carry out usual social roles and activities, pain, general quality of life, loneliness, physical frailty, psychological frailty, and social frailty. The study found significant improvements in physical frailty, quality of life, reduced health resource use and hospitalisations and lower levels of pain and depression/anxiety compared to baseline. The findings suggest further research into value-based care approaches, emphasizing the development and activation of personalised, comprehensive programs for older individuals with frailty.

Conceptualization and establishment of value-based healthcare in Saudi Arabia: A scoping review.

Objectives: Value-based healthcare (VBHC) represents a paradigm shift in healthcare delivery through optimizing patient outcomes relative to the costs of achieving those outcomes. This scoping review is aimed at revealing critical insights into the conceptualization and establishment of VBHC in the context of Saudi Arabia, a nation in a critical stage of healthcare transformation. Methods: A scoping review was conducted by using online databases and official websites with a timeframe of 2017-2023. This review included 14 pieces of literature, comprising six research articles, six government documents, and two reports. Results: The findings highlight increasing alignment with the definition of global VBHC principles, notably the emphasis on patient outcomes as a primary metric of healthcare value. Furthermore, financial reform has signaled a real move toward VBHC in the Kingdom, through a gradual shift from volume-based payments to value-based payments. However, the diverse interpretations and applications of VBHC across the examined literature indicate a promising stage of implementation characterized by evolving definitions and practices tailored to local needs and constraints. Conclusion: This scoping review describes the current landscape of VBHC conceptualization and establishment, highlighting the substantial progress achieved and the future challenges.

Designing an integrated care pathway for spondyloarthritis: A Lean Thinking approach.

INTRODUCTION: Integrated care pathways (ICPs) are crucial for delivering individualised care. However, the development of ICPs is challenging and must be well designed to provide the expected benefits. Regarding this, healthcare organisations are increasingly adopting management systems based on Lean Thinking to improve their organisational processes by eliminating non-value-added steps. This study elucidates the process and evaluates the impact of applying Lean Thinking to redesign an ICP for patients with spondyloarthritis, a chronic inflammatory disease affecting young adults. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team was assembled and trained in Lean Thinking. Patient's perspective was gathered through a focus group. Guided by an expert methodologist, the team constructed a value stream map of the entire care pathway and analysed each step. Five work streams were defined to increase value at each step, leading to targeted process improvements. Key process and outcome metrics were collected and compared in 2-month baseline and post-implementation audits. RESULTS: A total of 118 patients were included in the baseline audit (September-October 2022), and 116 in the post-implementation audit (January-February 2023). Process redesign resulted in statistically significant improvements (p < 0.05), including a reduction in the mean number of hospital visits per patient over a 2-month period from 2.54 (SD = 0.93) to 1.84 (SD = 0.79), an increase in complementary exams scheduled on the same day (81.4% to 94.8%) and an increase in baseline disease and treatment education (from 22.2% to 84.2% and from 18.2% to 84.6%, respectively). Regarding standardisation of clinical practice, there were significant increases in collecting data for medical records on composite activity indices (76.3% to 95.7%), reporting of pharmacological treatment adherence (68.6% to 94%) and providing nonpharmacological recommendations (31.3% to 95.7%). CONCLUSIONS: The application of Lean Thinking to redesign the spondyloarthritis ICP led to significant improvements in outpatient appointment scheduling, reduced patient hospital visits, improved interdepartmental coordination and standardised clinical practice.

Closing the value-based circle in shared decision-making: a digital framework for informing the shared decision-making process through patient reported outcome and experience measures.

Background: The spreading adoption of value-based models of healthcare delivery has incentivized the use of patient-reported outcomes and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs) in clinical practice, with the potential to enrich the decision-making process with patient-reported data. Methods: This perspective article explores PROs and the shared decision-making (SDM) process as components of value-based healthcare. We describe the potential of PROMs and PREMs within the decision-making process and present a digital framework for informing the shared decision-making process using aggregated data from a healthcare system PROMs and PREMs program, including early results from implementation in hospital network in Madrid, Spain. Results: The proposed digital framework incorporates aggregated data from a hospital network PROMs and PREMs program as part of a digital patient decision aid (PDA) for patients with lymphoma. After the first hematologist appointment, participating patients access the PDA to review relevant information about clinical and patient-reported outcomes for each of the possible options, assign a personal order of priority to different outcomes, and then select their preferred course of action. Patients' answers are automatically uploaded to the EHR and discussed with hematologists at the next appointment. After beginning treatment, patients are invited to participate in the network PROMs program; participants' PROMs data are fed back into the PDA, thus "closing the circle" between the decision-making process and patient-reported data collection.During the first 14 months after launching the decision aid in October 2022, of 25 patients diagnosed with follicular lymphoma at the four participating hospitals, 13 patients decided to participate. No significant differences in age or sex were observed between groups. Average SDM Q-9 score for patients filling in the questionnaire (n = 6) was 36.15 of 45 points. Conclusion: Various obstacles toward widespread implementation of SDM exist such as time constraints, lack of motivation, and resistance to change. Support and active engagement from policy makers and healthcare managers is key to overcome hurdles for capturing patient-reported data and carrying out shared decision-making at healthcare system level. Early results of a digital framework for PRO-enriched SDM seem to be beneficial to the decision-making process.

Comparing Rates of Minimal Clinically Important Difference Between Manual and Robotic-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty.

BACKGROUND: Differences in patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) between manual total knee arthroplasty (mTKA) and robotic-assisted TKA (rTKA) have not been adequately assessed. We compared the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for improvement (MCID-I) and worsening (MCID-W) between mTKA and rTKA patients. METHODS: Patients who underwent primary TKA (874 mTKA and 439 rTKA) with complete preoperative and 1-year postoperative PROMs were retrospectively identified using a multihospital joint arthroplasty registry. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function Short Form 10a (PROMIS PF-10a), PROMIS Global - Physical, or Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score-Physical Function Short Form were collected. The MCID-I, MCID-W, and "no significant change" rates were calculated using distribution-based methods. Propensity score matching was performed to control for confounding. RESULTS: Similar 90-day pulmonary embolism (P = 0.26), deep venous thrombosis (P = 0.67), and emergency department visit (P = 0.35) rates were found. The 90-day readmission rate for mTKA was 1.7 and 3.4% for rTKA (P = 0.08), and the overall revision rates were 2.2% for mTKA and 0.7% for rTKA (P = 0.07). Revision-free survival was 99% at one and 2 years for both groups (P = 0.65 and P = 0.43, respectively). There were no differences in the proportion of patients achieving MCID-I or MCID-W for PROMIS PF-10a, PROMIS Global - Physical, or Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score-Physical Function Short Form. The MCID-I for PROMIS PF-10a was achieved in 65.5 and 62.2% of patients who had mTKA and rTKA, respectively (P = 0.32). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated similar complication rates and MCID-I and MCID-W attainment rates between mTKA and rTKA patients. Future studies should assess MCID attainment rates in the long term and in larger cohorts comparing mTKA and rTKA.

Value based healthcare and Health Technology Assessment for emerging market countries: joint efforts to overcome barriers.

INTRODUCTION: This paper summarizes the results from a forum of healthcare experts, academia representatives, and public agency officials from emerging and established market countries on Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) and Health Technology Assessment (HTA). Presentations from experts provided insights into current developments and challenges, followed by interactive roundtable discussions. Emerging markets have unique healthcare systems, patient populations, resource constraints and needs. AREAS COVERED: Each roundtable explored specific topics including the role of HTA and Real-world evidence (RWE) in healthcare decision-making, challenges in biosimilar value assessment and incorporating non-price criteria reflecting context-related specifications of emerging markets such as the multifaceted nature of value in healthcare decision-making, emphasizing stakeholder perspectives and system complexities. EXPERT OPINION: RWE emerged as important in understanding biosimilar value recognition and decision-making processes, with insights into its applications and challenges. Recommendations were provided for utilizing Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) in pharmaceutical procurement, particularly for off-patent medicines, underscoring the importance of comprehensive evaluation frameworks and adherence to value-based principles. Overall findings suggest avenues for collaboration between industry, academia, and public agencies to address implementation barriers and promote equitable, efficient, and high-quality healthcare systems in emerging markets through public-private partnerships, joint capacity building and training initiatives, and knowledge transfers.

Evaluating patient participation in value-based healthcare: Current state and lessons learned.

INTRODUCTION: Value-based healthcare (VBHC) focusses on increasing value for patients. Hospitals aim to implement VBHC via value improvement (VI) teams for medical conditions. To determine the patient's perspective on value, collective patient participation is important in these teams. We therefore evaluated the current state of patient participation in VI teams and share lessons learned. METHODS: This mixed-methods study was conducted at seven collaborating hospitals in the Netherlands. A questionnaire (the public and patient engagement evaluation tool) was tailored to the study's context, completed by VI team members (n = 147 from 76 different VI teams) and analysed with descriptive statistics. In addition, 30 semistructured interviews were held with VI team members and analysed through thematic analysis. Data were collected between February 2022 and January 2023 and were triangulated by mapping the quantitative results to the interview themes. RESULTS: Thirty-eight of the 76 included VI teams reported using a form of patient participation. Many respondents (71%) indicated a lack of a clear strategy and goal for patient participation. Multiple VI team members believed that specific knowledge and skills are required for patients to participate in a VI team, but this led to concerns regarding the representativeness of participating patients. Furthermore, while patients indicated that they experienced some level of hierarchy, they also stated that they did not feel restricted hereby. Lastly, patients were satisfied with their participation and felt like equal VI team members (100%), but they did mention a lack of feedback from the VI team on their input. CONCLUSION: The results imply the lack of full implementation of patient participation within VI teams. Guidelines should be developed that provide information on how to include a representative group of patients, which methods to use, how to evaluate the impact of patient participation, and how to give feedback to participating patients. PATIENT AND PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: Two patient advisors were part of the research team and attended the research team meetings. They were involved as research partners in all phases of the study, including drafting the protocol (e.g., drafting interview guides and selecting the measurement instrument), interpreting the results and writing this article.

Challenging the status quo: a scoping review of value-based care models in cardiology and electrophysiology.

AIMS: The accomplishment of value-based healthcare (VBHC) models could save up to $1 trillion per year for healthcare systems worldwide while improving patients' wellbeing and experience. Nevertheless, its adoption and development are challenging. This review aims to provide an overview of current literature pertaining to the implementation of VBHC models used in cardiology, with a focus on cardiac electrophysiology. METHODS AND RESULTS: This scoping review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis for Scoping Reviews. The records included in this publication were relevant documents published in PubMed, Mendeley, and ScienceDirect. The search criteria were publications about VBHC in the field of cardiology and electrophysiology published between 2006 and 2023. The implementation of VBHC models in cardiology and electrophysiology is still in its infant stages. There is a clear need to modify the current organizational structure in order to establish cross-functional teams with the patient at the centre of care. The adoption of new reimbursement schemes is crucial to moving this process forward. The implementation of technologies for data analysis and patient management, among others, poses challenges to the change process. CONCLUSION: New VBHC models have the potential to improve the care process and patient experience while optimizing the costs. The implementation of this model has been insufficient mainly because it requires substantial changes in the existing infrastructures and local organization, the need to track adherence to guidelines, and the evaluation of the quality of life improvement and patient satisfaction, among others.

Development of best performance evaluation indicators based on value-based healthcare for general hospital nursing: A Delphi study.

OBJECTIVE: To establish and validate a set of best nursing practice indicators for medical groups in Chinese general hospitals based on value-based healthcare (VBHC) theory. DESIGN: A modified Delphi method. METHODS: This study engaged experienced clinical nurses from public hospitals and multidisciplinary experts in operations management. Through a literature review and structured brainstorming, a comprehensive framework for assessing best nursing practices in Chinese general hospital medical groups was developed. A modified Delphi method was then employed to establish an indicator framework, followed by the Combined Empowerment-MABAC method to weight and validate the indicators using empirical data collected between June 2023 and October 2023. The CREDES checklist guided the reporting of this study. RESULTS: Sixteen experts, each with at least 10 years of experience in nurse management from nine healthcare organizations, participated in two rounds of consultation. The experts' responses and suggestions for rewording, deleting and adding items were incorporated into each round. Of the 34 proposed indicators, 25 were approved, covering healthcare service capacity, efficiency, quality and safety, patient experience and cost. CONCLUSION: The Delphi survey reached a consensus on necessary actions to improve nursing performance. The developed indicator system provides a foundational framework for standardizing the monitoring of care quality and performance assessment in Chinese clinical healthcare groups, with broad applicability. RELEVANCE TO CLINICAL PRACTICE: This study provides a reliable basis for developing a nursing performance assessment database, offering crucial insights for measuring quality of care and improving patient value. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: No Patient or Public Contribution.

Towards Efficient Value-Based Healthcare Measurement Across Hospital Care Pathways - A Scoping Review.

Hospitals widely employ value-based healthcare (VBHC) to effectively manage healthcare quality. VBHC aims to maximize patient outcomes while minimizing costs by using quality measurements. The Dutch Erasmus Medical Centre experiences challenges with the time-consuming efforts to collect, evaluate, and present value-based quality measurements. Using similar VBHC measurement indicators across multiple care pathways could reduce these efforts. This study aims to identify such generic indicators for evaluating and monitoring VBHC across care pathways. A scoping review resulted in 33 articles from which indicators for VBHC measurement were extracted, aggregated and categorized using Donabedian's Structure-Process-Outcome model. The results of this study can inform researchers and VBHC practitioners on generic quality measurement indicators for VBHC management and guide future system development to facilitate the inclusion of standardized quality indicators in healthcare information systems.

Exploring cost changes with time-driven activity-based costing after service delivery redesign in Dutch maternity care.

The implementation of Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) has spread across international healthcare systems, aiming to improve decision-making by combining information about patient outcomes and costs of care. Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) is introduced as a pragmatic yet accurate method to calculate costs of care pathways. It is often applied to demonstrate value-improving opportunities, such as interventions aimed at service delivery redesign. It is imperative for healthcare managers to know whether these interventions yield the expected outcome of improving patient value, for which TDABC is also suitable. However, its application becomes more complex and labour intensive if the intervention extends beyond activity-level changes in existing care pathways, to the implementation of entirely new care pathways. The complexity arises from the potential influence of such interventions on the costs of related care pathways. To fully comprehend the impact of such interventions on organizational costs, it is important to include these factors in the cost calculation. Given the substantial effort required for this analysis, this may explain the limited number of prior TDABC studies with similar objectives. This methodological development paper addresses this gap by offering a pragmatic enrichment of the TDABC methodology. This enrichment is twofold. First, it provides guidance on calculating a change in costs without the need for a total cost calculation. Second, to secure granularity, a more detailed level of cost-allocation is proposed. The aim is to encourage further application of TDABC to conduct financial evaluations of promising interventions in the domain of VBHC and service delivery redesign.

Real-World-Time Data and RCT Synergy: Advancing Personalized Medicine and Sarcoma Care through Digital Innovation.

This manuscript examines the synergistic potential of prospective real-world/time data/evidence (RWTD/E) and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to enrich healthcare research and operational insights, with a particular focus on its impact within the sarcoma field. Through exploring RWTD/E's capability to provide real-world/time, granular patient data, it offers an enriched perspective on healthcare outcomes and delivery, notably in the complex arena of sarcoma care. Highlighting the complementarity between RWTD/E's expansive real-world/time scope and the structured environment of RCTs, this paper showcases their combined strength, which can help to foster advancements in personalized medicine and population health management, exemplified through the lens of sarcoma treatment. The manuscript further outlines methodological innovations such as target trial emulation and their significance in enhancing the precision and applicability of RWTD/E, underscoring the transformative potential of these advancements in sarcoma care and beyond. By advocating for the strategic incorporation of prospective RWTD/E into healthcare frameworks, it aims to create an evidence-driven ecosystem that significantly improves patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency, with sarcoma care serving as a pivotal domain for these developments.

Impact and effect of imaging referral guidelines on patients and radiology services: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this systematic review was to offer a comprehensive overview and explore the associated outcomes from imaging referral guidelines on various key stakeholders, such as patients and radiologists. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An electronic database search was conducted in Medline, Embase and Web of Science to retrieve citations published between 2013 and 2023. The search was constructed using medical subject headings and keywords. Only full-text articles and reviews written in English were included. The quality of the included papers was assessed using the mixed methods appraisal tool. A narrative synthesis was undertaken for the selected articles. RESULTS: The search yielded 4384 records. Following the abstract, full-text screening, and removal of duplication, 31 studies of varying levels of quality were included in the final analysis. Imaging referral guidelines from the American College of Radiology were most commonly used. Clinical decision support systems were the most evaluated mode of intervention, either integrated or standalone. Interventions showed reduced patient radiation doses and waiting times for imaging. There was a general reduction in radiology workload and utilisation of diagnostic imaging. Low-value imaging utilisation decreased with an increase in the appropriateness of imaging referrals and ratings and cost savings. Clinical effectiveness was maintained during the intervention period without notable adverse consequences. CONCLUSION: Using evidence-based imaging referral guidelines improves the quality of healthcare and outcomes while reducing healthcare costs. Imaging referral guidelines are one essential component of improving the value of radiology in the healthcare system. CLINICAL RELEVANCE STATEMENT: There is a need for broader dissemination of imaging referral guidelines to healthcare providers globally in tandem with the harmonisation of the application of these guidelines to improve the overall value of radiology within the healthcare system. KEY POINTS: The application of imaging referral guidelines has an impact and effect on patients, radiologists, and health policymakers. The adoption of imaging referral guidelines in clinical practice can impact healthcare costs and improve healthcare quality and outcomes. Implementing imaging referral guidelines contributes to the attainment of value-based radiology.

Value-based preoperative assessment in a large academic hospital.

BACKGROUND: Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is an approach that focuses on delivering the highest possible value for patients while driving cost efficiency in health services. It emphasizes improving patient outcomes and experiences while optimizing the use of resources, shifting the healthcare system's focus from the volume of services to the value delivered. Our study assessed the effectiveness of implementing a VBHC-principled, tailored preoperative evaluation in enhancing patient care and outcomes, as well as reducing healthcare costs. METHODS: We employed a quality improvement, before-and-after approach to assessing the effects of implementing VBHC strategies on the restructuring of the preoperative evaluation clinics at Humanitas Research Hospital. The intervention introduced a VBHC-tailored risk matrix during the postintervention phase (year 2021), and the results were compared with those of the preintervention phase (2019). The primary study outcome was the difference in the number of preoperative tests and visits at baseline and after the VBHC approach. Secondary outcomes were patient outcomes and costs. RESULTS: A total of 9722 patients were included: 5242 during 2019 (baseline) and 4,480 during 2021 (VBHC approach). The median age of the population was 63 (IQR 51-72), 23% of patients were classified as ASA 3 and 4, and 26.8% (2,955 cases) were day surgery cases. We found a considerable decrease in the number of preoperative tests ordered for each patient [6.2 (2.5) vs 5.3 (2.6) tests, p < 0.001]. The number of preoperative chest X-ray, electrocardiogram, and cardiac exams decreased significantly with VBHC. The length of the preoperative evaluation was significantly shorter with VBHC [373 (136) vs 290 (157) min, p < 0.001]. Cost analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in costs, while there was no difference in clinical outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrated the feasibility, safety, and cost-effectiveness of a tailored approach for preoperative evaluation. The implementation of VBHC enhanced value, as evidenced by decreased patient time in preoperative evaluation and by a reduction in unnecessary preoperative tests.