1.6 Implications for practice

The following are the key implications for leadership practice in a value-based health or social care system:

1. Incentives must be built into payment systems to encourage creativity and innovation and to develop improved and effective care models at an efficient price that discourages gaming of the health payment system.
2. Care outcome measures designed in value-based healthcare guide clinician decision-making in an environment where evidence-based innovations to the care process are encouraged and rewarded.
3. Those implementing value-based healthcare can begin by examining areas within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Healthy Days Measures, which assesses four key domains of self-rated general health, physical health, mental health and activity limitations.
4. Partnering with patients and their families is one of the most important components of value-based healthcare because it is person-centred and focuses on the relationship between clinician and patient.
5. Some options to explore for payment systems in value-based healthcare are pay-for-performance schemes, bundled payments, capitation models, bonuses and shared savings models.
6. In implementing value-based healthcare, focusing on decision-making grounded in valid and reliable data is important. This approach should be complemented by fostering a culture of innovation and creativity in care delivery among leaders and team members and maintaining open communication with patients and their families. Additionally, emphasis should be placed on leadership, effective teamwork, and the crucial aspect of recruiting and developing the right people.

Leading authentically emphasises building legitimacy through honest relationships and ethical actions that, in turn, maximise the efforts of others to achieve the goal of care with an efficient price.