What does “value” mean to patients?

There are numerous value frameworks being developed by an alphabet soup of organizations including ACC/AHA, ASCO, ICER, MSKCC, NCCN, and others.  These organizations generally represent providers or payer perspective on value.  But what does “value” mean to patients? The National Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) provides their thoughts in a recent white paper titled “The Roadmap to…

Are “Focused Factories” a good idea?

In recent years, there has a been a trend towards patient-centered care focusing on caring for a patient holistically.  For instance, a NEJM perspective piece by Porter states: Accountability for value should be shared among the providers involved. Thus, rather than “focused factories” concentrating on narrow groups of interventions, we need integrated practice units that are…