“Always Events” for patient-centred care

Glòria Galvez

What would we like to happen if we, our families or our friends had to be treated in a health centre? The details are important and, although some may seem minor, they will make the difference between having a good or a bad experience. The NHS England, in collaboration with the Picker Institute, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the NHS Improvement, developed in 2015 a program to identify and ensure the achievement of these details that will be the ones that add value to the patient's experience. The program called Always Events,® as opposed to "never events", aims to translate the principles of attention centred on the person and family into concrete actions.

How to build an agile experience for the patient?

Glòria Galvez

Our environment is subject to constant changes that organizations try to adapt to by becoming agile institutions, capable of developing projects quickly and flexibly. According to the report by the McKinsey consultancy, agile organizations are recognized by five key elements:

1. They are committed to open innovation, co-creating with different actors, from their professionals to the clients of the organisation.
2. Foster networks of autonomous people, free to devise disruptive proposals; a model of red arch versus one of hierarchy. 
3. They prefer to be quick and take risks than fall into excessive planning. 
4. The style of leadership gives prominence to people and encourages development talent. 
5. Integrate technology as a resource that provides agility to formulate new proposals. 

Some organizations undertake small transformations related to innovation or patient experience, but few dare to make a global transformation adopting an agile methodology. 

Value-based healthcare: the patient's perspective

Glòria Galvez

More and more organizations are adopting the new model of value-based healthcare (VBHC) where, according to the formula developed by Michael Porter:

                                                         Results that matter to the patient

                                        Value = ______________________________

                                                                           Costs

In order for the results to be measured correctly and standardized, the International Consortium for Health Outcomes Measurement (ICHOM) -a non-profit organization recently joined by Vall d'Hebron Hospital- is defining sets of indicators standardized by clinical conditions. In this line, the Vall d'Hebron Hospital, which is implementing this new model of care, has set up working groups to define the indicators that they provide value to patients for the clinical conditions of stroke and localized prostate cancer.