September 2022 edition
The HealthShare NSW procurement team used a value based healthcare approach in to develop the new statewide orthopaedic hips and knees contract. The team engaged with clinicians, service managers, and suppliers to ensure that NSW Health has the best value products and services that can support the best outcomes and experience for our patients.
The HealthShare NSW procurement team used a value based healthcare approach to develop the new statewide orthopaedic hips and knees contract, which came into effect on 1 March 2022.
The previous contract coming to an end created an opportunity to pilot an alternative approach. HealthShare NSW sought to embed value into the contract, with a focus on improving outcomes that matter to patients, experiences of receiving care and providing care, and the efficiency and effectiveness of care.
A key difference in the approach was the consideration of value beyond the individual products and prices and extending this to the impacts they have on patients, staff, and the service as a whole. This maximised the ability for procurement to support accelerating innovation and patient care through incentivising patient outcomes.
"The Team wanted to take the opportunity to incorporate more than just your traditional product and price approach in this activity. Engaging clinicians, the Surgical Services Taskforce, and the Commissioning for Better Value program gave us a local and system wide view of current challenges. We then provided the opportunity for suppliers to include value add solutions to these challenges into their offers. Based on the LHD interest in these offers so far, we will use this as a model for future activities." HealthShare NSW
"The Team wanted to take the opportunity to incorporate more than just your traditional product and price approach in this activity. Engaging clinicians, the Surgical Services Taskforce, and the Commissioning for Better Value program gave us a local and system wide view of current challenges. We then provided the opportunity for suppliers to include value add solutions to these challenges into their offers. Based on the LHD interest in these offers so far, we will use this as a model for future activities."
The Surgical Services Taskforce used insights from the Hip Fracture Leading Better Value Care initiative to highlight the current challenges around unwarranted clinical variation in hip and knee replacement surgery. For example, they found the number of prosthesis suppliers used within a hospital was uncapped, with some services using up to eight different suppliers within one facility, each with their own associated consumables and processes.
"Reducing the sheer number of items we have in stock has improved our theatre preparation and turnover time. There’s less packaging, less waste and less storage space needed.’‘The clinical outcomes for patients are very clear, we have fewer prostheses to choose from however they are high-quality devices, and their long-term performance is monitored" Surgical Taskforce
"Reducing the sheer number of items we have in stock has improved our theatre preparation and turnover time. There’s less packaging, less waste and less storage space needed.’
‘The clinical outcomes for patients are very clear, we have fewer prostheses to choose from however they are high-quality devices, and their long-term performance is monitored"
Some of the opportunities this approach provided to increase value for patients and the system included: