REFORM DIRECTION · 6.
Value-Based Financing
Financing should support the right care across the whole patient pathway. Funding should follow need, quality and outcomes rather than reinforce fragmentation between providers.
A SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE
Payment design shapes behaviour across the healthcare system. When each activity is funded separately, coordination may have no owner while cost and risk are shifted between organisations. Better mechanisms should support cooperation and predictability.
NEZ examines financial flows alongside patient pathways, population need, quality and the total cost of care. Value means achieving better outcomes that matter to patients in relation to resources used; it does not mean simply reducing expenditure.
AREAS OF WORK
What coherent change requires
Fund the patient pathway
Payment mechanisms should support continuity between prevention, primary care, specialist care, hospital treatment and rehabilitation.
Need and risk
Resource allocation must reflect complexity, disease burden and population conditions so providers are not penalised for caring for harder cases.
Outcomes and quality
Measurement should include safety, health outcomes, patient experience and unintended consequences.
Balance and predictability
Providers need stable rules that support investment in quality and a rational distribution of responsibility.
INTENDED DIRECTION
A rational flow of resources between healthcare providers that rewards cooperation, continuity and better health outcomes.
This page describes a direction of NEZ’s work, not a final legislative programme. Recommendations are developed through evidence, clinical practice, international comparison and feasibility review.