Publication
Improving outcomes for patients, health systems and society
July 2015
European Member States and key healthcare stakeholders are under significant pressure as they face the dilemma of fewer healthcare resources per capita to meet increasing demand for health services. Underlying this challenge are ageing populations, declining rates of workforce participation, budgetary pressure and the concurrent introduction of new treatments that are both dramatically more effective and costly. To navigate a path forward, healthcare leaders gathered in Brussels on February 10-11 with a shared commitment to improve outcomes for patients, health systems and society.
Placing outcomes at the top of the healthcare agenda allows leaders to focus on maximising patient benefit while delivering value to health systems and society. As leaders of respected healthcare institutions, many Brussels participants believe it is incumbent upon them to “do our part to steer Europe’s health systems towards the path of high-quality, cost-effective ‘health’ care rather than ‘sick’ care.”
However, the roadmap to navigate this journey to health outcomes has not been drawn. Implementing an “outcomes agenda” will require a redesign of care pathways, new business models and new forms of collaboration across the system – an ambitious proposition. This document is a start to that journey and reflects the following themes from the discussion in Brussels:
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Health systems face demographic, economic and technological investment pressures
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A focus on health outcomes will relieve pressure and provide greater health system value and efficiency
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New models of leadership and collaboration are needed to advance the outcomes agenda