Value-based mental healthcare: The quality aspect

Abstract

Introduction

The goal of value-based healthcare is to improve the quality of care while also lowering healthcare costs. Values may also include societal or research benefits.

Objectives

To outline the emergence and quality-related concepts of value-based healthcare.

Aims

To give a comprehensive overview and critical discussion of quality aspects of value-based mental healthcare including aspects of personal, societal and scientific values.

Methods

Review of quality aspects of value-based mental healthcare.

Results

The quality aspect of value-based healthcare includes the implementation of patient-centered care and may include the assessment of societal values or values for research purposes. Current concepts focus on the reduction of disability-adjusted life years to measure the achievement of values, but may need to be broadened to include benefits to society as a whole or the progress of knowledge about mental disorders in research. Conceptually, addressing such broader value issues may lead to increased benefits and a better appraisal of the value of mental healthcare.

Conclusions

The trend towards value-based mental healthcare aims at creating an efficient care delivery model, that strongly focuses on achieving favorable patient outcomes and may in the future also include creating societal values. It includes the development and implementation of suitable mental health policies and comprehensive quality assessment, plus a broad conceptualization of the value-term and its assessment in value-based mental healthcare.

Disclosure of interest

The author has not supplied his declaration of competing interest.