European Alliance for Value in Health’s Network Event: connecting & inspiring stakeholders to accelerate health system transformation!

It was only November 2020 that our European Alliance for Value in Health was launched. A European multi-stakeholder group, including patients, scientific and professional societies, healthcare managers and professionals, hospitals, regional health authorities and industry. As an Alliance, we are working together towards our shared vision for a Europe, where health systems are value-based, sustainable, and people-centred.

By connecting different stakeholders, we aim to facilitate health system transformation, share knowledge and best practices, and engage with policy makers and stakeholders at European, national, and regional levels.

In that spirit, early March 2021 we organised our first (online) networking event, bringing together our 11 partner associations and almost 50 member organisations. The aim was to connect attendees and inspire them to further collaborate in Europe on the topic of value in health.

High ambitions towards value-based health systems

I found it really inspiring to listen to the elevator pitches by the 11 partners at the start of the event. Although we have been working together for more than a year in establishing the Alliance, it was great to see and hear them address what they want to achieve in terms of value in health. Without going in full depth, a few key statements I noted down are:

• We need to put the patient perspective at the centre of health care decision making
• We strive to get alignment on the definition and concept of value
• We should have a holistic view of a disease, deliver care in an integrated way, and stop working in silos

Our partners also addressed why they joined the Alliance and how they see that the Alliance will help them to achieve their value in health goals. This is where I saw the mission of the Alliance in action: collecting and sharing insights, learnings and best practices, connecting and aligning stakeholders and driving a value-oriented mindset and culture.

Important key principles in achieving value-based health systems

From the start, the Alliance translated its vision and mission into 6 key principles that describe value-based, sustainable and people-centred health systems. After explaining these, we had a quick voting and I was happy to see all principles got endorsed by the attendees.

But, as with every vote, there are always winners! Maybe not surprisingly, but the principle of “Outcomes that matter to people and patients, as well as benefits valued by health systems and societies, are at the centre of decision making” was the clear number one.

And next up was the principle of “Financing models and payments reward value and outcomes”, a key enabler for the whole transformation.

I was very fortunate to be one on the moderators for the breakout discussions, in which we discussed in smaller multi-stakeholder groups on these 2 principles. These discussions helped us to see where the main challenges are, what is needed to address these challenges and how people see the Alliance can help to overcome these challenges.

For both principles the common denominator was: bringing stakeholders together and sharing best practices and case studies. This is exactly in the sweet spot of our Alliance.

Moving forward: the go-to-place for value in health in Europe

I saw great engagement during the event itself and we received very positive feedback from the attendees. This confirmed us to continue our journey to establish the Alliance in 2021 as a trustworthy go-to-place and platform for value in health in Europe, for all stakeholders including policy makers. Furthermore, we want to broaden the conversation from value-based healthcare to value-based health systems, in which we focus on the full ecosystem of prevention, social care and healthcare. Last, but not least, we will ensure to strengthen the Alliance by ensuring all relevant stakeholders are well represented and we establish a network of affiliated organisations.

I’m looking forward to our next event, probably in June! In the meantime, if you have any questions and/or suggestions, please do reach out to us and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Casper Paardekooper, Partner at Vintura & Secretariat to the European Alliance for Value in Health