Unlocking the Potential of Value-Based Healthcare in Mesothelioma Cancer Care

ByHolly Zink
Unlocking the Potential of Value-Based Healthcare in Mesothelioma Cancer Care

In the world of healthcare, there’s something called Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC). It’s all about making healthcare better by focusing on the results it delivers. When it comes to diseases like cancer, doctors want to get the best results for patients. A group of European healthcare centers came together in the VOICE community to see if they could make this happen.

Understanding Value-Based Healthcare

Value-Based Healthcare is all about understanding what works best in healthcare. It looks at the outcomes (results) that patients get from treatments and connects them to the costs. This way, doctors can see which treatments are worth it. The goal is to get the best results for the money spent by patients.

In the world of cancer, the focus is often on helping patients live longer. But it’s not just about how long you live; it’s also about your quality of life and the cost of treatment. That’s where Value-Based Healthcare comes in.

The First Step: Getting Data

To start using Value-Based Healthcare in cancer care, doctors need lots of information. The VOICE community collected data on patients’ reported outcomes, clinical outcomes, care process outcomes, and economic outcomes. This data helps researchers understand how patients feel. It looks at how their treatment is going. And it takes into account how much treatment costs.

The Challenge: Benchmarking in Cancer

Benchmarking is like comparing different healthcare centers to see who does things best. In this study, they looked at six healthcare centers in three countries to see how they were doing in cancer treatment.

Here’s what that found. Patients had different health outcomes. Some centers did better in care process, while others didn’t. And the costs of treatment varied. The interesting part is that by comparing these centers, doctors can figure out what’s working well. If one center is doing a great job in a certain area, others can learn from them.

Moving Forward with Value-Based Healthcare

This study is just the beginning. Value-Based Healthcare has a lot of potential to make healthcare better. The next step is to keep collecting data, sharing best practices, and improving the way doctors care for mesothelioma patients.

Cancer is a serious disease, but with the power of Value-Based Healthcare, doctors can make a real difference in how doctors treat it. The journey to better healthcare is an exciting one, and we’re on the right path.

Source:

García-Lorenzo, Borja, Ania Gorostiza, Itxaso Alayo, Susana Castelo Zas, Patricia Cobos Baena, Inés Gallego Camiña, Begoña Izaguirre Narbaiza, et al. “European Value-Based Healthcare Benchmarking: Moving from Theory to Practice.” European Journal of Public Health, October 24, 2023, ckad181. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckad181.

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