Using care bundles to improve health care quality

"This white paper describes the history, theory of change, design concepts, and outcomes associated with the development and use of bundles over the past decade."

Using care bundles to improve health care quality
R Resar, FA Griffin, C Haraden, TW Nolan
IHI Innovation Series white paper
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
May 2012

Read more here. (Free registration required)

Assessing value in health care programs

"Programs designed to improve health and prevent disease should be evaluated based on whether they improve health at a reasonable price, essentially comparing whether improvements in health are achieved for less resources than through alternatives, eg, expenditures on health care services."

Assessing value in health care programs
KG Volpp, G Loewenstein, DA Asch
Journal of the American Medical Association, 2012, 307(2):2153-2154

Read more here.

Thinking about rationining

"The aim of this discussion paper is to give the reader an understanding of the issues involved in rationing in the evolving context of the contemporary NHS in England."

Thinking about rationining
R Klein, J Maybin
The King's Fund
May 2012

Read more here.

Fulfilling the potential: a better journey for patients and a better deal for the NHS

"The future delivery of medical care will need to focus, not only on the development of innovative treatments, but on reducing the levels of stress associated with the delivery of in-patient care."

Fulfilling the potential: a better journey for patients and a better deal for the NHS
NHS Enhanced Recovery Partnership
NHS Improvement
April 2012

Read more here.

The performance improvement imperative

"Improving care for the chronically ill is just one of many steps required to lower national health spending and bring about the dramatic change needed in the way health care is organized and provided."

The performance improvement imperative: utilizing a coordinated, community-based approach to enhance care and lower costs for chronically ill patients
The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System
April 2012

Read more here.

Intentional rounding: what is the evidence?

"The available evidence suggests that intentional rounding can help staff to organise their workload and provide more systematic reliable care."

Intentional rounding: what is the evidence?
Policy +
King's College, London
April 2012

Read more here.

Investing in emotional and psychological wellbeing for patients with long-term conditions

"This report brings together the evidence across diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and coronary heart disease, plus medically unexplained symptoms, to present a business case for investing in psychological services."

Investing in emotional and psychological wellbeing for patients with long-term conditions
Mental Health Network - NHS Confederation
April 2012

Read more here.

"NHS Confederation summarises the new Mental Health Network report, and describes how primary and secondary health services can improve patient outcomes, while reducing the overall costs of care for the NHS."

Read a summary here.

Appropriate use of screening and diagnostic tests to foster high-value, cost-conscious care

"The overuse of some screening and diagnostic tests is an important component of unnecessary health care costs."

Appropriate use of screening and diagnostic tests to foster high-value, cost-conscious care
A Qaseem, et al.
Annals of Internal Medicine, 156(2):147-149

Read more here.

NHS Better Care, Better Value Indicators

Better Care Better Value indicators identify potential areas for improvement in efficiency, which may include commissioners re-designing and shifting services away from the traditional setting of the hospital and out towards community based care.

View the indicators here.

Rationing health care

"The report therefore makes a number of recommendations for changes that could be made to improve the way the NHS benefits package is shaped, without going as far as specifying a national set of NHS-funded services."

Rationing health care
B Rumbold, V Alakeson, PC Smith
Nuffield Trust
February 2012

Read more here.

Does competition improve public hospitals' efficiency?

"Our results suggest that competition between public providers prompted public hospitals to improve their productivity by decreasing their pre-surgery, overall and post-surgery length of stay."

Does competition improve public hospitals' efficiency? Evidence from a quasi-experiment in the English National Health Service
Z Cooper, S Gibbons, S Jones, A McGuire
Centre for Economic Performance
February 2012

Read more here.

Webinar: The social imperative to demonstrate that better care = lower costs

9th February 2012 - 7pm-8pm GMT (2pm-3pm Eastern Time USA) - PLEASE CONFIRM TIME

Speakers:

• Donald Berwick, MD, MPP, Former Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services; Former President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
• Gerard M. Shea, Assistant to the President for External Affairs, American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)

This webinar is provided by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in America. Find out more and register here.

Cost reduction in central government

"Despite the short timescale, departments successfully managed within their reduced spending allocations for 2010-11."

Cost reduction in central government: summary of progress
Cabinet Office and HM Treasury
February 2012

Read more here.

Service-line management: Can it improve quality and efficiency?

Implementing Service Line Reporting and Service Line Management "works best when it is central to the overall management approach of the trust and part of its day-to-day way of working."

Service-line management: Can it improve quality and efficiency?
C Foot, L Sonola, J Maybin, C Naylor
The King's Fund
January 2012

Read more here.

Can NHS hospitals do more with less?

"This report seeks to understand the factors that determine efficiency within hospitals and how hospital trusts can best make cost savings by improving efficiency, based on UK and international experience."

Can NHS hospitals do more with less?
J Hurst, S Williams
Nuffield Trust
January 2012

Read more here.

Emergency bed use: what the numbers tell us

"Using hospital beds more efficiently could save the NHS at least £1 billion a year and deliver benefits for patients."


Emergency bed use: what the numbers tell us
The King's Fund
December 2011

Read more here.

Commissioning effective dementia services in the new world

"Ensuring truly integrated commissioning and integrated care pathways would deliver better outcomes for people with dementia and would cost less than the current system."

Common and complex: commissioning effective dementia services in the new world
Alzheimer's Society
December 2011

Read more here.

The search for low-cost integrated healthcare

"This report identifies one particular model,originating from the region of Valencia, Spain, which purports to be a pioneering approach to the provision of integrated healthcare through public-private partnership."

The search for low-cost integrated healthcare: the Alzira model - from the region of Valencia
NHS European Office
NHS Confederation
December 2011

Read more here.

The quest for efficiency in the English NHS

"A competitive, flexible approach to health care delivery will promote innovation, making it possible to learn from health care providers that adopt diferent approaches to delivery."

Competition, integration and incentives: the quest for efficiency in the English NHS
AM Garber
The Nuffield Trust
December 2011

Read more here.

Delivering efficiency savings in the NHS

"This memorandum has been prepared for the Health Committee to support its review of public expenditure. It sets out how the NHS, supported by the Department of Health, plans to deliver efficiency savings of up to £20 billion by 2014-15."

NAO briefing for the House of Commons Health Committee: Delivering efficiency savings in the NHS
National Audit Office
September 2011 (published December 2011)

Read more here.