VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The vast majority of Canadians and national health leaders agreed that the Canadian health system should focus on achieving quality and better health outcomes rather than on cutting costs to make the system sustainable, according to separate surveys of the general public and hospital CEOS, department heads, medical directors and other senior health administrators.
Eight in 10 Canadians, and nine in 10 health leaders, chose quality over parsimony in a pair of IPSOS surveys conducted for HealthCareCAN and the Canadian College of Health Leaders in the run-up to the National Health Leadership Conference (NHLC) being held in Vancouver June 12-13. The conference this year is structured around the theme: “Value-Based Healthcare: embracing a patient and family-centered approach.”
“There’s no doubt about what most Canadians want and what most health leaders see as a priority,” says Bill Tholl, President and CEO of HealthCareCAN, the national voice of healthcare organizations and hospitals, and NHLC co-host. “They want quality, patient-centred care. And they want policy-makers and the system to just get on with it. Quality is job number one.”
“The question is: what is the most practical way of doing that?” asks Ray Racette, President and CEO of NHLC co-host, the Canadian College of Health Leaders. “But everyone agrees that the status quo isn’t acceptable and that we must get greater value from our healthcare investments given the aging population, the growth of chronic diseases and the extraordinary pace of medical innovation.”
Yet whether health leaders believe the system is entirely focused on achieving value-based, patient-based health care is somewhat equivocal. When asked if their organization is committed to such care in its vision, mission statement or strategic directions, 86% of health leaders surveyed responded in the affirmative. But 15% of that group indicated that they do not believe it’s “acted on” within their organization, while 14% of all respondents answered in the negative.
The survey also indicated that measuring value-based care is equally problematic and sporadic. In their endeavours to solicit patient and family feedback, just 56% of organizations actually make inquiries about the value of care that they provided. And asked whether their information systems measure value, just 40% responded in the affirmative.
Using patient-reported data to improve care is among a series of sessions organized at this year’s NHLC as part of the bid to enhance quality and safety, outcomes and organizational efficiencies, including a session sponsored by the Canadian Institute for Health Information about how such information can “inform clinical and policy decision-making.” Similarly, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement will seek to articulate in another session how value-based, patient-centred care can be expanded to home and community care, while Canadian Blood Services President Dr. Graham Sher will sketch the balances between achieving value-driven outcomes and meeting public expectations in the face of “system demands in Canada’s evolving blood system.”
Health leaders also indicated in the poll that they believe the federal government has a substantial role to play in the move to value-based care, primarily by “providing funding” (26%); “standardization/guidelines” (16%); “creation/execution of plans/strategies” (10%); and “measurement/reporting” (9%). The survey findings of health leaders are available here; the public survey findings are available here.
NHLC is the largest national gathering of health system decision-makers in Canada, including representatives from health regions, authorities and alliances; hospitals; long-term care organizations; public health agencies; community care; mental health and social services; government, education and research organizations; professional associations; and consulting firms and industry. Visit www.nhlc-cnls.ca for more information.