Dr Eleanor Perfetto Discusses Importance of Including Patients in Value Discussion

Healthcare providers need to agree on a definition of value, but that discussion must include the voice of the patient, according to Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for the National Health Council. Patient input is especially important when the conversation results in a decision that could affect access to care.

Transcript (slightly modified)

Why do you think it’s so difficult to determine value and what tools are available to help?

Now value is a word that’s really hard to define, I think we all have an idea in our mind what we think value means, but when you’re asked to give a definition of “what is value in healthcare?” it’s really hard to pinpoint. And I think that’s one of the things we’re struggling about this year with so much discussion about value. We need to make sure that we’re all on the same page with our definition, and we haven’t gotten there yet.

For patients, what’s really important is that when there’s a discussion going on about value, and what’s value in healthcare, and that discussion produces a decision that could mean access or lack of access to the patient community, patients want to be involved in that discussion. They want to be at the table. They want to really know that their voice has been heard in what they consider to be value.

The definition of value can be different for every disease and condition, and so that patient voice is really important.