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Outcome-based Healthcare 2018-2022

Every patient deserves the healthcare best suited to his or her personal situation. The most suitable care is the result of the most suitable treatment. The most suitable care requires patient and healthcare provider to have insight into the outcomes that are relevant for the patient. The government collaborates with all parties in the healthcare sector in order to make outcome information available.

Using outcome information for shared decision-making

Minister Bruno Bruins for Medical Care and Sport invests €70 million in Outcome-based Healthcare 2018-2022. The starting-point is that a successful treatment should suit to the personal situation of a patient, which can differ from person to person. Patient and doctor should decide together what treatment is best for that particular patient and where the quality of that treatment is guaranteed most. To support this development, the next couple of years steps will be taken across for domains:

  1. Greater insight into outcomes: by collecting scientific data about patient quality of life after a treatment, we can better determine what constitutes good care. This will also allow patients to be better informed about advantages and disadvantages experienced by others in a similar position.
  2. More shared decision-making: we want to support good conversations between patients and healthcare providers. By informing patients about their choices. And equipping and challenging healthcare providers to enter the conversation and ask the question: what really matters to the individual patient?
  3. Promoting outcome based organisation and payment: creating more room for personalised treatment demands flexibility and guidance from care organisations. Healthcare provision will become increasingly integrated. Payments have to be aligned with integrated delivery models and focus on outcome rather than volume. Individual process indicators used to justify a decision may potentially be replaced as we move to looking at the overall care outcomes for individual patients. This will help reduce regulatory requirements. In short: how can we create the necessary atmosphere and focus within existing frameworks?
  4. Better access to relevant and up-to-date outcomes information: IT systems offer growing opportunities. In order to utilize real-time patient information to guide personalised treatments, for healthcare providers to continuously learn from personal results, and to allow the implementation of state-of-the-art knowledge. Information must be accessible in order to provide patients with personalised options.

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