Multi-level analysis and evaluation of organizational improvements in thoracic surgery according to a Value-Based HealthCare approach

BACKGROUND: Value-Based HealthCare (VBHC), designed by Harvard University, is an evolving model of healthcare delivery that achieves better patient outcomes and greater financial sustainability for the healthcare professionals. According to this innovative approach, the value is determined by a panel of indicators and the ratio between results and costs. Our goal was to develop a panel of thoracic-fashioned key-performance indicators (KPIs) creating a model that could be applied in thoracic surgery for the first time, reporting our early experience. METHODS: Fifty-five indicators were developed based on literature review: 37 for outcomes and 18 for costs. Outcomes were measured by a 7 level Likert scale, while overall costs were defined through the sum of the individual economic performance on each resource indicator. An observational retrospective cross-sectional study was designed to make a cost-effective evaluation of the indicators. Therefore, the Patient Value in Thoracic Surgery (PVTS) score calculated value gained for every lung cancer patient undergoing lung resection at our surgical department. RESULTS: A total of 552 patients were enrolled. From 2017 to 2019 mean outcome indicators per patient were 109, 113 and 110 while mean costs per patient were 7.370, 7.536 and 7.313 euros respectively. Hospital stay and waiting time from consultation to surgery for lung cancer patients decreased from 7.3 to 5 and from 25.2 to 21.9 days, respectively. On the contrary, number of patients increased but overall costs decreased, despite cost of consumables has gone from 2.314 to 3.438 euros, since cost of hospitalization and occupancy of the operating room (OR) improved (from 4.288 to 3.158 euros). Variables analyzed showed that overall value delivered grew from 14.8 to 15. CONCLUSIONS: Introducing a new concept of value, the VBHC theory applied to thoracic surgery may revolutionize traditional organizational management in lung cancer patients, showing how value delivered can increase in accordance with outcomes, despite the growth of part of the costs. Our panel of indicators has been created to provide an innovative score to successfully identify improvements needed and quantify their effectiveness in Thoracic Surgery and our early experience reports encouraging results.