Some nations pay half what others do for healthcare and yet get the same or better outcomes. How?

Dr Mark Britnell has worked in more than 60 countries, and has seen crucial patterns in the way that healthcare is managed, delivered and funded He is head of healthcare, UK and Europe, at KPMG, and is giving the Keynote Address at the Nuffields Trusts Annual Health Policy Summit.

Writing in the Guardian today he outlines the five principle behind the world’s most efficient health systems.

Integrated Care

create a strong incentive to keep patients well and out of hospitals by getting providers across the pathway to work together.

Hospitals as Health Systems

Misaligned incentives and lack of coordination can inhibit the ability of health systems to implement bold improvements at scale.

Standardise and simplify

Standardise clinical workflows by defining best practice and developing explicit guidelines.
Develop IT systems that cement these practices into the everyday work of staff – making best practice the default choice. Change the skill mix so that highly skilled professionals are only used for their expertise

Take social care seriously

Payer power

The world’s most efficient systems all have a single or dominant payer at the centre.

Read more at the Guardian