Care Value Chain
Treatment value chain or care value chain is a concept of health economics and is closely oriented to the concept of the value chain in economics . In contrast to the traditionally structured healthcare system with individual, sometimes isolated health service providers, the concept of the Care Value Chain (CVC) defines an extensive network of service providers when treating patients. As in business administration , the service providers act as suppliers in a process flow and provide services that should lead to the healing of the patient. However, this process can be flexibly adapted to the requirements of the individual illness. The CVC also includes rehabilitation and family doctor follow-up care. The practical implementation of the CVC makes a standardization of the treatment process necessary, for which theories from the production economy are used, among other things .
The treatment process according to the principles of CVC can take place across several institutions, depending on the indication. Particularly in the case of chronic illnesses, various service providers such as the treating family doctor, the specialist, the hospital and rehabilitation are involved, whereby the quality of the service provision of each treating institution can be influenced by the advance payments. In this way, medical service providers can often be divided up according to the supplier, following the example of the supply chain . In this sense, the chiropractor is the supplier for the family doctor, who in turn is for the specialist doctor. The hospital is supplied by all of the aforementioned and is itself a supplier for rehabilitation. As a rule, the circle closes with aftercare by the resident doctor.
In this sense, the "product" is ultimately the patient who is "processed" by the individual institutions and then handed over to the respective interface. This approach makes it possible to transfer knowledge from the area of successful supply chain management to the treatment value chain .
Care Value Chain Management
The care value chain is characterized by:
- It includes all the service providers involved and logistical processes from the first treating doctor to rehabilitation.
- The subjects are admission, examination, treatment and discharge processes.
- Organizational boundaries are exceeded.
- The coordination takes place via an integrated information system.
Like supply chain management, the management of the care value chain describes the planning, management and control of a care value chain. The aim is to integrate selected cooperation partners into the company's value creation system in a long-term partnership in order to generate and secure competitive advantages. This differs significantly from the current picture of an isolated provider with sector funding in the health sector.
The CVC concept is incorporated into the planned introduction of the electronic patient card , on which all data relating to the treatment process and medical history are recorded.
The proponents of procedural treatment concepts hope for an increase in the quality of processes in the healthcare system and better cost control.
Differentiation from the Health Care Value Chain
The Health Care Value Chain describes the interaction of the suppliers for a service provider in the health sector and the processing of the financing of health services. If the treatment processes are viewed as horizontal processes, these supporting processes can be seen as vertical processes. At the respective connection point in the care value chain, several suppliers such as B. medical device suppliers and also financial institutions such. B. be affiliated with health insurance companies.
Example: A hospital has suppliers such as general practitioners and specialists on the treatment process side, and it is still a supplier for rehabilitation itself. In order to provide its services, however, it still needs medication that is provided by pharmacies, which in turn obtain their medication from pharmaceutical wholesalers and ultimately the pharmaceutical industry. On the other hand, the hospital has to offset the services it provides with the health insurance companies, which in turn have a relationship with their insured persons.
literature
- Dr. Stefan Resch: The concept of the care value chain . Whitepaper, Siemens Medical Solutions Erlangen 2007.
- Dr. Stefan Resch: Cooperation in the treatment process: the concept of the care value chain . Powerpoint lecture, 2006. ( PDF )