​​December 2022 edition

Since commencing as the Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Planning in September of this year, I have been inspired by the many wonderful examples of local and statewide value based healthcare initiatives that are ensuring we continue innovating and delivering high-quality healthcare services.  
 
We have a world-class health system that provides excellent outcomes and high-quality care to the people of NSW. However, there is always room for improvement and as with all health systems worldwide, NSW Health faces challenges such as a growing and ageing population, rising healthcare costs, climate risks and the impact of new technologies.  
headshot of Deborah Willcox Future Health, released earlier this year, is the roadmap for our health system to achieve our vision and adapt to these challenges. Value based healthcare is a critical part of Future Health – it is identified as a key objective and many of its enablers underpin Strategic Outcomes across the strategy. The transition from volume to value allows health systems to continuously improve the delivery of effective healthcare so that care is aligned with outcomes and experiences, and available resources are used optimally.  

We are seeing great innovation across our local health districts and speciality health networks.

 I would like to congratulate all the finalists for the Secretary’s Integrated Value Based Care Award and the winner Sustaining and embedding the NSW Statewide Telestroke Service as part of a Supra Local Health District, hosted at Prince of Wales Hospital, South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. 

You can read more information about the finalists in the article within this edition. 

The feature article in this edition highlights some of the key achievements across the value based healthcare programs this year. I am also pleased to highlight just a few of the key achievements that contribute to our enablers of value based healthcare: 
  • The Bureau of Health Information recently published a study that demonstrates the significant impact that patient-reported experiences have on outcomes, looking at risk of readmission among adults with chronic health conditions. This ground-breaking research highlights just how important the experience of care is, and how the four essentials of value all interact. 
  • Collection of patient reported measures (PRMs) is continuing to be scaled across districts, networks and primary care. Our Health Outcomes and Patient Experience (HOPE) platform is live across 430 locations in NSW and we have seen: 
    • 40,674 patient reported outcome measures completed 
    • 3,694 patient reported experience measures completed 
    • Over 19,000 active consumers participate in the platform. 
  • The collection and use of PRMs at point of care through HOPE will expand into the Rehabilitation, Mental Health, Cataracts and Stroke cohorts in 2023.  
  • Innovative funding models are ensuring that we are incentivising and paying for the outcomes that matter. You can read more about the novel funding approach that Collaborative Commissioning has developed in this edition.  
We will continue to showcase the impact of all the innovative work in value based healthcare and share the lessons learnt across the health system as part of the 2023 value based healthcare event series.  
 
Thank you all for your continued commitment to improving experiences and outcomes for our patients across NSW.  
 
I wish you all a safe and happy break and look forward to working with you in 2023 towards the vision for Future Health.
Current as at: Thursday 8 December 2022
Contact page owner: Strategic Reform and Planning