I got a tip off about an interesting company, Healthbox, who are moving into the European Healthcare space. They have had a lot of success supporting small startups across the pond. I was intrigued so called up a couple of entrepreneurs, from podmetrics and destinationdoc, and wandered in to the dragons’ den in the city on Tuesday evening.
Boom - started with intense networking where ideas were flying all over the place; I heard about remote control elderly care, innovative rehab, find a doctor app, junior doctor handover apps to name but a few. There were a bunch of suits, trainer-wearing Mark Zuckerberg wanabees, techies, docs, academics and healthcare innovators. We had a quick drink before a brief informal, presentation about what Healthbox want to do in Europe.
Healthbox, along with its principal UK partners Serco and Bupa, intends to unleash innovation to make material improvements for patients, as quickly as possible. They will do so by helping enthusiasts translate our transformational ideas from the garage in their 2-up 2-down to the patient bedside. They will help us take ideas to marke and scale ideas much quicker than if we are left alone to make it work by ourselves. They do this by injecting cash, expert coaching from business gurus and through a strong tech network of potential customers.
Sounds good? Well this is not a charity exercise. There are some big names behind it who are interested in seeing a return on their investment. But I don't think that is something to be worried about - profit is not the reason d'être here. The market will speak for itself. If the idea solves an important healthcare issue it will sell and scale. So if the ideas are successful, investors will get their return, entrepreneurs get their lucky break, and ultimately, and most importantly, patients will get better care.
I think Healthbox are on to something here. In my experience, the majority of the best ideas in healthcare come from our clinicians and people working on the frontline. However these enthusiasts have to wade through ten tonnes of treacle to get anywhere and often lack the networks and know-how to spread ideas quickly. Unfortunately in the NHS, the door is so often closed before the idea can even be tested effectively. I hope that Healthbox, and other similar initiatives, will help our amazing individuals, and their ideas, thrive.
Healthbox's arrival in the UK is timely. It is clear that we are going to have an unprecedented time of austerity with four years of flat cash. With this in mind, the NHS needs some help - a message that came through again and again today at the inspirational Darzi fellows' 'Beyond the Bill' conference. Nick Seddon's outstanding contribution to a panel debate hailed the need for an entrepreneurial revolution. He recognised that 'necessity is the mother of invention', as such Nicholson's £20 billion challenge is opening the door for entrepreneurs to thrive.
Good luck to all those drpreneurs out there who are trying to break through. 2nd September is the deadline for this round of Healthbox: www.healthboxaccelerator.com
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Workforce Planning Round Table with Reform, by Subashini M, Clinical Research Fellow at Department of Surgery at Imperial College
This meeting was held under the Chatham House Rules, hence neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor that of any other participant can be revealed.
I was delighted to attend the discussion at Reform, an independent non-party think tank focused on public service delivery, on workforce planning. A group of 20 senior administrators, policy advisors and senior clinicians were invited to this roundtable discussion.
As a junior doctor, my interest was personal. Is there a light at the end of the training tunnel? We are all familiar with the anxiety and uncertainty facing junior doctors applying for specialty training and I was keen to find out how the current changes to healthcare service delivery model will affect doctors at the frontline.
The roundtable discussion commenced with the interesting fact that in the next 20 years, the number of people in England who are 65 and over is predicted to rise by 51% and the demands on our health and social care system will be very different. The key challenges brought up by this demographic shift were discussed in great detail. The term ‘horizon scanning’ was introduced. It was acknowledged that short-term cost-cutting does not and has not worked, hence the need to focus on long-term thinking; looking into probable futures in 15-20 years’ time. Although it is not possible to predict the impact of a potentially groundbreaking technology or life-saving drugs on workforce or the population, it is possible to postulate future healthcare needs with the Centre of Workforce Intelligence’s Horizon scanning system.
In order to meet the healthcare needs of the future, two main streams of solutions were identified. First was the less attractive and unpopular change in payment model, i.e. reviewing the range of services available free at point of delivery on the NHS. Second stream was to improve workforce motivation and efficiency. It was agreed that the second stream should be the focus at present to address the challenges highlighted.
Following on from that, the five habits to improve productivity in healthcare workforce were discussed. This was based on research performed by KPMG, titled ValueWalks. The detailed report is due to be published in autumn this year; an abbreviated version is available here
http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/PDF/Market%20Sector/Healthcare/preface-value-walks-june-2012.pdf
One of the habits outlined was mandatory training for clinicians in service re-design and business innovation. It was emphasised that clinical leadership and engagement is essential for re-modelling care. The common practice of successful healthcare teams around the world was to look at the precise aspects of care and to continuously improve each micro-process. In order for this practice to be adopted, staff had to be empowered. This, in turn, improves efficiency.
There was also discussion about the shift of healthcare delivery from hospital-based care to community-based care and doctor-led to nurse-led care. Although one of the driving forces is cost, this model has been noted to be successful in other countries. It was felt that task shifting and blurring the boundaries of healthcare workforce was another way to maximise the efficiency of the current staff.
There were several radical and thought-provoking ideas brought up during the discussion. Although there was consensus regarding the real and present challenges faced by the NHS, there was no panacea for this issue. Each professional group (providers, analysts and clinicians) had different ideas of how to rectify this issue. One of the guests described the current situation as a ‘perfect storm’, which was the perfect opportunity for us all to get back to the drawing board and innovate a solution to heal our NHS.
I came away from the meeting with several thoughts. However, most importantly, I felt that it is crucial for junior doctors to be acutely aware of the changing shape of healthcare. It must be emphasised that clinical leadership and interest in service design and delivery are important, yet often over-looked areas of professional development. The traditional role of doctoring and hospital-based care structure are changing and we should use this as an opportunity to re-align ourselves to fit into this brave new world of healthcare of the future.
I was delighted to attend the discussion at Reform, an independent non-party think tank focused on public service delivery, on workforce planning. A group of 20 senior administrators, policy advisors and senior clinicians were invited to this roundtable discussion.
As a junior doctor, my interest was personal. Is there a light at the end of the training tunnel? We are all familiar with the anxiety and uncertainty facing junior doctors applying for specialty training and I was keen to find out how the current changes to healthcare service delivery model will affect doctors at the frontline.
The roundtable discussion commenced with the interesting fact that in the next 20 years, the number of people in England who are 65 and over is predicted to rise by 51% and the demands on our health and social care system will be very different. The key challenges brought up by this demographic shift were discussed in great detail. The term ‘horizon scanning’ was introduced. It was acknowledged that short-term cost-cutting does not and has not worked, hence the need to focus on long-term thinking; looking into probable futures in 15-20 years’ time. Although it is not possible to predict the impact of a potentially groundbreaking technology or life-saving drugs on workforce or the population, it is possible to postulate future healthcare needs with the Centre of Workforce Intelligence’s Horizon scanning system.
In order to meet the healthcare needs of the future, two main streams of solutions were identified. First was the less attractive and unpopular change in payment model, i.e. reviewing the range of services available free at point of delivery on the NHS. Second stream was to improve workforce motivation and efficiency. It was agreed that the second stream should be the focus at present to address the challenges highlighted.
Following on from that, the five habits to improve productivity in healthcare workforce were discussed. This was based on research performed by KPMG, titled ValueWalks. The detailed report is due to be published in autumn this year; an abbreviated version is available here
http://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/PDF/Market%20Sector/Healthcare/preface-value-walks-june-2012.pdf
One of the habits outlined was mandatory training for clinicians in service re-design and business innovation. It was emphasised that clinical leadership and engagement is essential for re-modelling care. The common practice of successful healthcare teams around the world was to look at the precise aspects of care and to continuously improve each micro-process. In order for this practice to be adopted, staff had to be empowered. This, in turn, improves efficiency.
There was also discussion about the shift of healthcare delivery from hospital-based care to community-based care and doctor-led to nurse-led care. Although one of the driving forces is cost, this model has been noted to be successful in other countries. It was felt that task shifting and blurring the boundaries of healthcare workforce was another way to maximise the efficiency of the current staff.
There were several radical and thought-provoking ideas brought up during the discussion. Although there was consensus regarding the real and present challenges faced by the NHS, there was no panacea for this issue. Each professional group (providers, analysts and clinicians) had different ideas of how to rectify this issue. One of the guests described the current situation as a ‘perfect storm’, which was the perfect opportunity for us all to get back to the drawing board and innovate a solution to heal our NHS.
I came away from the meeting with several thoughts. However, most importantly, I felt that it is crucial for junior doctors to be acutely aware of the changing shape of healthcare. It must be emphasised that clinical leadership and interest in service design and delivery are important, yet often over-looked areas of professional development. The traditional role of doctoring and hospital-based care structure are changing and we should use this as an opportunity to re-align ourselves to fit into this brave new world of healthcare of the future.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Diagnosis Salon with the Trainee Group of FMLM on 27th June 2012 - What is the value of value? by Dr Nisha Mehta NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Psychiatry at King's College London
It was a real pleasure to attend yet another lively and educational Diagnosis Salon where a nuanced and informative debate was enjoyed by all who attended. Co-hosted with the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management, we were treated to a panel of experienced speakers put together by the Diagnosis team.
Speaking broadly in favour of the concept of value we heard Dr Rupert Dunbar-Rees and Dr Emma Stanton encourage us to reflect on the ways in which we can get maximum 'value' out of each stage of the health supply chain, which includes efficiency, focus, drive and team working.
Emma drew some fascinating parallels with her time sailing round the world in a yacht race, comparing this to her current NHS work as a neuropsychiatrist hearing about the inefficiencies in a system that causes frustration to staff and patients on a daily basis within the NHS.
The debate hotted up with a contribution from Dr Peter Lachman who suggested that the word 'value' is perhaps bandied about too freely and in such a loosely defined way as not to be entirely helpful to the healthcare debate in its current form. Peter worried that the use of the term 'value' is code for 'cost cutting' and suggested that it is important not to allow this to happen, because combined with competition and free market forces in health we risk eroding the values of the NHS.
Harvard Business School's Michael Porter's controversial 'value in healthcare' paper was discussed during Dr Anas El-Turabi's talk, in which he suggested that although they contain some merit, Porter's ideas for value in healthcare do not correspond to the corporate model from which his concept of 'value' originates through a failure to build in sustainability and factor in equity in the model. This opened up the debate to the floor nicely - from which point we heard several excellent arguments from the audience.
These included a discussion about whether the new 'value' agenda is simply a re-hashing of the pre-recession 'quality' agenda. We also heard an interesting debate about the exact definitions of 'value' and the role of cost, quality, supply chain, health services organisation in all of this.
I had recently had a very interesting discussion with Professor Uwe Reinhardt, Professor of Political Economy and Economics at Stanford University, that any discussion about value ought to take into account the value system of the health service in question - whether this be free market, egalitarian or somewhere in between - given that this will have a clear impact on the 'value' that any given society places on a life. This reflection seems to chime with the theme of the evening - that 'value' is a multi layered, complex phenomenon within healthcare, and that definitions are important, as are practical applications of the theory and concept.
Value seems here to stay (whether we like it or not!) and it cannot be ignored. I was thrilled that the Diagnosis Salon gave me a great opportunity to crystallise my own thinking on the subject and that it has inspired me to find out more! Thanks very much to the Diagnosis team for all their hard work and looking forward to the next Salon!
Speaking broadly in favour of the concept of value we heard Dr Rupert Dunbar-Rees and Dr Emma Stanton encourage us to reflect on the ways in which we can get maximum 'value' out of each stage of the health supply chain, which includes efficiency, focus, drive and team working.
Emma drew some fascinating parallels with her time sailing round the world in a yacht race, comparing this to her current NHS work as a neuropsychiatrist hearing about the inefficiencies in a system that causes frustration to staff and patients on a daily basis within the NHS.
The debate hotted up with a contribution from Dr Peter Lachman who suggested that the word 'value' is perhaps bandied about too freely and in such a loosely defined way as not to be entirely helpful to the healthcare debate in its current form. Peter worried that the use of the term 'value' is code for 'cost cutting' and suggested that it is important not to allow this to happen, because combined with competition and free market forces in health we risk eroding the values of the NHS.
Harvard Business School's Michael Porter's controversial 'value in healthcare' paper was discussed during Dr Anas El-Turabi's talk, in which he suggested that although they contain some merit, Porter's ideas for value in healthcare do not correspond to the corporate model from which his concept of 'value' originates through a failure to build in sustainability and factor in equity in the model. This opened up the debate to the floor nicely - from which point we heard several excellent arguments from the audience.
These included a discussion about whether the new 'value' agenda is simply a re-hashing of the pre-recession 'quality' agenda. We also heard an interesting debate about the exact definitions of 'value' and the role of cost, quality, supply chain, health services organisation in all of this.
I had recently had a very interesting discussion with Professor Uwe Reinhardt, Professor of Political Economy and Economics at Stanford University, that any discussion about value ought to take into account the value system of the health service in question - whether this be free market, egalitarian or somewhere in between - given that this will have a clear impact on the 'value' that any given society places on a life. This reflection seems to chime with the theme of the evening - that 'value' is a multi layered, complex phenomenon within healthcare, and that definitions are important, as are practical applications of the theory and concept.
Value seems here to stay (whether we like it or not!) and it cannot be ignored. I was thrilled that the Diagnosis Salon gave me a great opportunity to crystallise my own thinking on the subject and that it has inspired me to find out more! Thanks very much to the Diagnosis team for all their hard work and looking forward to the next Salon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)