NL
The rising retirement age and the increase in chronic diseases affecting work participation create a growing need for quality and efficiency improvement within Work and Health. Work and Health physicians at the UWV assist people with long-term disability, assess their abilities and determine their eligibility for disability benefits. These physicians have previously indicated that there are many opportunities to add value for patients within this domain. To date, the concept of Value-Driven Care has been applied primarily in curative care. Thus, there is room to explore what factors are important for implementing value-driven care in Work and Health.
Objective
The Value@WORK team (which includes Prof. Dr. Philip van der Wees of IQ Health) investigated how value can actually be created within Work and Health. Can we translate the principles of Porter's 'Value Agenda' to this practice and what steps should we take?
Method
In this exploratory qualitative study, the participant group consisted of 15 professionals with expertise in social insurance medicine (n=10) or with expertise value-driven care in the curative care sector (n=5). Each participant participated in both an individual interview and a group interview.
Results
7 key factors to value creation were identified: (1) clarity on what is of value within Work and Health, (2) integration of Work and Health into work-focused care networks, (3) exploring the need and feasibility for further specialization, (4) identifying key work-related patient outcomes, (5) identifying key costs, (6) identifying value-driven financial incentives, and (7) developing an information system to share data.
Conclusions
Commitment from practitioners is needed to create value. Attention must be paid to the fulfilment of these 7 key factors.