Transforming the health system for sustainability Environmental leadership through a value-based health care strategy
Figure 1: Simplistic representation of sustainability
Health services primarily focus on economic sustainability, or rather, the proper use of available financial resources.3 However, ‘the assumption that sustainability at the financial and the economic levels is sufficient, on its own, to enhance the effectiveness of the health care system and to overcome the momentous challenges which a ffect the performance of health care organisations neglects the wicked nature of sustainabilityrelated issues’.4 The Sustainable Development Goals represent an agreed global conceptualisation of sustainability signifying the indivisible nature of economic, social
Sustainability is most often described as ‘meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.1 Although commonly depicted as three interconnected circles reflecting environment, economy and society, it is also a complex, multifaceted concept that continually evolves depending on the perspectives of different sectors and professions, and their respective expertise and interests.2
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The Health Advocate • AUGUST 2021
and environmental dimensions, with sustainability only to be achieved when these areas are pursued collectively.5 Value based Healthcare (VBHC) is a global movement which provides a holistic patient centred way to support sustainable decision making in healthcare. The classic definition of value-based health care is based on work initially led by Professors Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg (2006) who propose that value is the health outcomes that matter to patients, divided by the costs of delivering those outcomes.
