Practical Strategies to Assess Value in Health Care

These days, the idea of “value” is at the center of many activities and decisions in health care in the United States. While there exist books that detail the technical steps for how to carry out a specific type of value assessment, such as cost-effectiveness or return on investment, there are few that attempt to teach healthcare professionals how to think about value. This book provides a deeper understanding of value as a concept as well as an endeavor (as in, to determine or uncover the value of care) within the healthcare industry by illustrating the different components of value that should guide decision-making processes for policy, infrastructure, and quality improvement. Through an exploration of theories of economics and implementation science, as well as practical suggestions for real-world applications, this text provides a foundation for the long and complicated “value” journey the US has bet its entire healthcare system on.

In the US, policy to promote what is referred to as “value-based care” is here to stay. As we move forward within this construct, we need to move beyond the over-simplified definition of value as “quality per dollar spent” to a more functional framework for how to think about value that can adapt to different circumstances and points of view. Only then will it be possible to compare value across settings, conditions, and activities.

The book consists of 9 chapters organized in four sections:

Part I: Understanding the Challenges of Assessing the Value of Health Care
Part II: A Primer on Fundamental Concepts and Current Techniques Used to Measure Value in Health Care
Part III: A Discussion of the Real-world Motivations and Requirements that Should be Contemplated when Exploring Value
Part IV: How to Design and Perform a Value Assessment

Practical Strategies to Assess Value in Health Care is an essential resource for healthcare professionals at all levels and points of care who are interested in understanding how best to assess and interpret value for a particular situation including providers, administrators, payers, insurers, health plans, and policy-makers.