Chapter 2: Healthcare delivery models and value-based healthcare

Hanan Khalil

A healthcare service, irrespective of size and complexity, might deploy several delivery models. The effectiveness of a particular healthcare service delivery model depends on its balance of advantages and disadvantages in comparison to its cost, which directly relates to the principles of value-based healthcare. An ideal health system should consider allocating resources to interventions that provide the highest population health benefits at the lowest cost. This might involve reallocating resources from less effective or costly interventions to more efficient ones, thereby improving the overall efficiency of healthcare systems. Restructuring the delivery of healthcare could serve as a strategy to enhance the optimal distribution of limited healthcare resources (WHO, 2016).

Healthcare delivery can be implemented in various ways, including the location it is delivered (e.g. hospital to home), the individuals providing the care (e.g. healthcare professionals or other appropriately trained individuals), the setting (individuals or groups) and modes of delivery using technology such as teleconferencing (Jessup et al., 2020; Putrik et al., 2021). Providing services in alternative ways has the potential to be either similar or, in some cases, superior in terms of patient outcomes. However, this can also lead to cost shifting to other stakeholders or an increase in demand on that service (Roberts et al., 2023).

A recent scoping review detailing the characteristics of integrated care models found that there was a lack of sufficient descriptions of their characteristics despite some showing promising benefits or at least similar comparability to standard models of care. This results in insufficient data to determine effective components and costings (Rohwer et al., 2023). Therefore, in addition to efficacy, economic evaluations of alternative models of care delivery are required to inform decisions about the allocation of funding based on their relative value. High-cost models that deliver significant benefits to patients may be considered good value, while low-cost models of care that provide little or no benefit may have restricted value.

In value-based healthcare, the focus is on maximising patient outcomes relative to the costs incurred. This necessitates a thorough evaluation of different care delivery models to ensure that resources are allocated efficiently, achieving the best possible health outcomes for the population.