Measuring Value in Healthcare

Healthcare payers want technology developers to create systems that measure value.  However, technology is lagging social changes. David Lansky, PhD., purchaser representative on the federal Health IT Policy Committee, is focusing on improving the nation’s healthcare delivery system by curtailing unnecessary spending and enhancing visibility by measuring outcomes and value. “To assess value, we need to measure value in the way people who get care are treated; what happens to the whole person across time and across space,” Lansky explains.

Asthma treatments could be dubbed successful if a patient reports that they slept through the night with minor to no interruptions. Depression medications would be more effective if patients return to their careers or once again participate in family life.

Patients and employees have voiced interest for this type of information. This demand for such information could reduce the overall cost of nation’s healthcare. All they have to do now is create a system that measures such value.

 

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