Healthy People, Healthy Systems: A blueprint for outcomes focused, value-based health care

Tuesday, January 12, 2021

After months of review, the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association is proud to launch the refreshed Blueprint, Healthy People, Healthy Systems: A blueprint for outcomes focused, value-based health care.

‘In 2017, AHHA launched the first iteration of Healthy People, Healthy Systems: A Blueprint for a Post 2020 National Health Reform Agreement, which mapped out how to transform our healthcare system, reorienting our healthcare system to focus on patient outcomes and value,’ said AHHA Chief Executive Alison Verhoeven.

‘Since then, new challenges have emerged and the 2019-20 bushfires and the COVID-19 pandemic have shone a light on the systemic weaknesses of our health system, while simultaneously presenting new opportunities for innovation.’

‘In the refreshed Blueprint, we have continued to advocate for an outcomes-focused, value-based healthcare system through a range of strategies, including short, medium, and long-term actions, to reform and strengthen the Australian health system.’

‘As we step into 2021 and beyond, it is important that we carry the lessons from 2020 with us. AHHA continues to advocate for the establishment of an independent national health leadership body, building on arrangements established during 2020 with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, and reporting directly to National Cabinet to provide stewardship for the health system.’

‘We call for new data standards, digital health architecture, and analytical and reporting capabilities to establish a system where data accurately reflect care outcomes and are in the right format, timely and of sufficient quality to discern critical relationships between investment and results and support overall health system performance.’

‘The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the weaknesses in the current health workforce, such as an increasingly casualised workforce and the limited resource of healthcare workers in regional and remote areas. We recommend national coordination and a shared vision of a sustainable workforce that protects the welfare of health professionals and meets the health needs of all Australians.’

‘The time to move to a value-based approach to healthcare funding is now and that’s why we have recommended funding models that support the specific needs of the local communities and incentivising stakeholders to cooperate in standardised tracking of health outcomes.’

‘The systemic weakness of our healthcare system has been exacerbated following the challenges of 2020. However, we have also seen rapid reform and innovation. We call on our health ministers to continue on this path of reform and innovation to continue building a health system that Australians need and deserve.’

To read the Healthy People, Healthy Systems: A blueprint for outcomes focused, value-based health care, see: http://ahha.asn.au/blueprint. More information on AHHA is available at ahha.asn.au.

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association is the national peak body for public and not-for-profit hospitals, Primary Health Networks, and community and primary healthcare services.