Blueprint for Healthcare Emerges From Study of Global Approach to Patient Care

LONDON, April 16, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

A major new report, published today by KPMG's Global Healthcare Practice, examines the challenges facing international health systems, from the perspective of leading practitioners across 22 countries. Receipt

Called 'Something to teach, Something to learn: Global perspectives on healthcare', the report will be central to a debate when 3,000 of the world's leading health experts gather at the International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare in London, this week*.

Shaping discussion on how to improve quality and reduce costs in an increasingly challenging environment, the report argues that the next five to ten years will be critical for health systems around the world as they look for strategies to cope with rapidly growing and ageing populations.

Mark Britnell, KPMG's Global Health Chairman, and report co-author, says: "The report and the Forum are both focused on the central importance of sharing learning and best practice between organisations, systems and countries.

" 'Something to teach, Something to learn' is a call to action to think about the deep-seated strategies that will enable health economies to provide better care at lower cost. Powerful examples of how it can be done are out there - we just need to be better at sharing learning."

Despite the many differences between the various international systems examined in the report, 'Something to teach, Something to learn' reveals a number of striking similarities the strategies that are beginning to emerge. Key findings from the report lead to the conclusion that:

- a major shift from "volume to value" is reshaping how we pay for and provide healthcare. Health systems are looking for ways to eliminate the perverse incentives that reward providers quantity over quality - the number of treatments carried out rather than the benefit to patients and overall population health improvement

- the relationship between patients, clinicians, payers and providers is becoming pivotal - it is influencing the shape of services and can deliver significant benefits. Evidence shows that patients often make better (and more cost effective) decisions about their care when empowered and fully informed of their options
- patients are demanding, and being given, more control over their care, putting pressure on clinicians to move their role from 'God to guide'.

These drivers predict a need for transformational change leading to:

- a new breed of 'activist payers' - whether governments or insurance companies are reinventing themselves as agents of change by using selective and targeted contracting and demanding that providers rethink their models to come up with more innovative and integrated solutions

- providers taking responsibility for outcomes and health improvements. This can mean hospitals adapting by transforming themselves into 'health systems' responsible for pathways of care and the health of their entire communities

- the emergence of more genuine partnerships as providers and payers start to see the quality and cost benefits that can come from effective integration and a focus on outcomes. "Rapid and revolutionary health system improvement is the new global reality, " said Dr. John E. McDonough, DPH, MPA, Professor Director, Center for Public Health Leadership, Harvard School of Public Health. "Any nation thinking that it's 'just me' misses the point Something to Teach, Something to Learn drives home.  Compelled to change, payers, providers, patients, and health systems are abandoning the status quo for real value and true accountability. Continuous system improvement is the new normal, and those who believe it is 'just them' should read Something to Teach to grasp this essential truth."

Professor Hilary Thomas, partner, KPMG Management Consulting, says: "The report has uncovered a paradox at work within international healthcare. Leading practitioners acknowledge that major change is inevitable because of rising demand, but too few are actually planning the scale of system reform to cope with it.

"There is a growing consensus that doing nothing is not an option and that now is the time to act if we are to be ready for the challenges ahead. However, many organisations still think they will be able to transact their way out of trouble, by growing, merging or simply altering their focus. The learning we have brought together from around the world indicates that many of them will be wrong."

Case studies

Something to teach, Something to learn looks at current international best practice and points to a number of countries where transformational strategies are showing that measurable quality improvement and significant financial savings can go hand in hand.

For example a revolutionary partnership involving Parkinson's disease patients in Holland, which involves web-based patient education and streamlined treatment pathways has led to a 50 percent reduction in hip fractures and £16.3 million (US$25 million) worth of savings.

'Something to teach, Something to learn' urges all international health economies to ask themselves if their strategies are robust enough to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

It also urges practitioners and policy-makers to look beyond their own systems to see where lessons from other parts of the world could add value.

Maureen Bisognano, President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement says: "It's good to see influential practitioners from around the world taking stock of the enormous trends reshaping health care and reaching a consensus that leaders have everything to gain from greater collaboration and shared innovation.

"The rise of rapidly developing economies in Asia, Africa and South America are matched by new visions to improve the health of populations and to deliver high quality care using new technologies and existing resources more efficiently. This work presents health care leaders everywhere with new models and huge, learning opportunities."

Notes to Editors:* International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare, ExCel London Conference Centre, 16-19 April 2013

About KPMG KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, is a subsidiary of KPMG Europe LLP and operates from 22 offices across the UK with over 11,000 partners and staff.  The UK firm recorded a turnover of £1.7 billion in the year ended September 2011. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. We operate in 152 countries and have 145,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity.  KPMG International provides no client services.

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