A value-based odyssey in Australia
A value-based healthcare odyssey in Australia I am freshly back in Wales having returned from a full immersion in the Australian healthcare system over the past few weeks. I have had the immense privilege of working with all parts of the system across 3 states and the federal government, talking to patients and consumers, clinicians, provider organisations, the primary health networks, policy leads, academics and politicians. Why go, you may well ask? As Australia increasingly moves towards a value-based approach supported by the Australian Healthcare and Hospital Association I had been asked by that organisation to give the keynote address at the VBHC Congress in Brisbane at the end of October. I have been struck by the similarity in approach to Value in Health in Australia to that of ours in Wales and much of the rest of Europe. Value in health is about striving to achieve the outcomes that matter to people and to promoting sustainability in healthcare systems around the world (f