Open AccessTesting cost containment of future healthcare with maintained or improved quality—The COSTCARES project
Author(s) -
Swedberg Karl,
Cawley Desmond,
Ekman Inger,
Rogers Heather L.,
Antonic Darijana,
Behmane Daiga,
Björkman Ida,
Britten Nicky,
Buttigieg Sandra C.,
Byers Vivienne,
Börjesson Mats,
Corazzini Kirsten,
Fors Andreas,
Granger Bradi,
Joksimoski Boban,
Lewandowski Roman,
Sakalauskas Virgilijus,
Srulovici Einav,
Törnell Jan,
Wallström Sara,
Wolf Axel,
Lloyd Helen M.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
health science reports
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.462
H-Index - 7
ISSN - 2398-8835
DOI - 10.1002/hsr2.309
Subject(s) - health care , business , quality (philosophy) , incentive , order (exchange) , process management , promotion (chess) , containment (computer programming) , test (biology) , risk analysis (engineering) , computer science , political science , economics , paleontology , philosophy , programming language , epistemology , finance , politics , law , biology , microeconomics
Background Increasing healthcare costs need to be contained in order to maintain equality of access to care for all EU citizens. A cross‐disciplinary consortium of experts was supported by the EU FP7 research programme, to produce a roadmap on cost containment, while maintaining or improving the quality of healthcare. The roadmap comprises two drivers: person‐centred care and health promotion; five critical enablers also need to be addressed: information technology, quality measures, infrastructure, incentive systems, and contracting strategies. Method In order to develop and test the roadmap, a COST Action project was initiated: COST−CARES, with 28 participating countries. This paper provides an overview of evidence about the effects of each of the identified enablers. Intersections between the drivers and the enablers are identified as critical for the success of future cost containment, in tandem with maintained or improved quality in healthcare. This will require further exploration through testing. Conclusion Cost containment of future healthcare, with maintained or improved quality, needs to be addressed through a concerted approach of testing key factors. We propose a framework for test lab design based on these drivers and enablers in different European countries.