Four Steps to High-Value Care: The Solution to U.S Healthcare Spending

January 30, 2020

In 2018, the United States spent an average of $10,206 per person on healthcare, which amounts to 16.9 percent of GDP. Compared to other countries tracked by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the United States by far spends the most.^1-3

The next highest in healthcare spending is Switzerland at $7,300 per person (12.3 percent of GDP). The average among all OECD countries is just $5,287 per person (8.8 percent of GDP).^1-3

Despite spending more on care, U.S. patients do not have better outcomes than other countries that spend less. In some areas, such as life expectancy, infant mortality, unmanaged asthma and diabetes, the United States ranks closer to the bottom of the list than the top.

What can we do to reduce U.S. healthcare spending and improve patient care?

The answer lies in providing high-value care – the best care for the patient, with the best result, delivered at the right price.⁴ To deliver high-value care, health systems must:

Identify opportunities for high-value care, such as improving lab test utilization or adopting precision prescribing.
Integrate changes that support high-value care into the daily workflow.
Engage and support healthcare providers through communication and education. (Why? Read our blog post explaining Why engaging providers in high-value care will be even more critical in 2020.)
Set metrics and refine strategies based on the results.

hc1 has built a platform ideally suited to helping health systems deliver on these four key steps. The hc1 High-Value Care Platform™ eliminates waste and personalizes care for health systems and diagnostic laboratories nationwide by turning previously static lab data into actionable healthcare insights. Platform-based solutions can be added to target specific initiatives and improvement goals.

hc1 Test Utilization™ provides a real-time dashboard of standardized and organized lab data from across the entire health system, including in-hospital, outpatient and reference lab data. With all of the data in an easy-to-use dashboard, identifying room for improvement becomes simple and automated clinical decision support can drive appropriate test usage, reduce cost, and improve patient care.

hc1 PGx Advisor™ combines patient-specific data from conventional Medication Therapy Management (MTM), PharmacoGenomics (PGx) and clinical lab testing with integrated engagement and monitoring workflows to recommend informed improvements to the patient’s prescription plan and overall care.

hc1 Opioid Advisor™ makes following prescribing guidelines easier by providing automated, intelligent data, so healthcare providers can retrieve and compare information about a patient’s prescribing history and opioid use in real-time with a single click.

By leveraging the hc1 Platform, health systems can improve clinical outcomes and reduce spend. Visit hc1.com to read more about the hc1 Platform and other high-value care initiatives.

References

Farah, MD, MHA, M. (2019 Apr 9). In search of high-value care: Six steps that can help your team. The Hospitalist. https://www.the-hospitalist.org/hospitalist/article/198542/leadership-training/search-high-value-care
Peter G. Peterson Foundation. (2019 July 22). How Does the U.S. Healthcare System Compare to Other Countries? (https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2019/07/how-does-the-us-healthcare-system-compare-to-other-countries
OECD. Health Expenditure. https://www.oecd.org/health/health-expenditure.htm
Committee on the Learning Health Care System in America; Institute of Medicine; Smith M, Saunders R, Stuckhardt L, et al., editors. (2013 May 10). Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 8, Achieving and Rewarding High-Value Care. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK207237/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=r360