As health care providers, we are here to help patients. Improving health for patients – quality of life and dignity of death—is the central purpose of health care. Thus, we want to take the best possible care of our patients. If we do not focus on the results we achieve with our patients, then we will often fail at this responsibility, no matter how hard each of us tries to do a good job with the patient sitting in front of us.
High-value care is a growing movement in the U.S. While there are many initiatives from clinical leaders, providers, professional societies, policy makers, and medical institutions, there is also a lot of momentum coming from trainees, young physicians, and nurses “on the ground.” Understanding value-based health care is becoming a key component of being a good doctor or nurse, and it can be a driving force in making you an amazing caregiver. Patients are increasingly hearing about and experiencing the harms of health care, including that it is not safe enough and that it is too expensive. The present system is scary – for valid reasons.
What is so exciting about the current climate is that the goal of providing high-value health care is something that patients, physicians, nurses, administrators, payers, employers and government actors all can agree on. Value for patients is a goal that aligns interests, rather than pitting participants against each other.
“Our north star – where we are headed – is trying to deliver value to our patients, as defined by optimizing the health of our patients in a way that reduces cost. No matter where we sit in the health care system, we can all agree that is why we, the health care system, exists.”