Technical Value in Healthcare: determined by how well resources are used within services for each individual and the whole population .
Technical Value
…the proper objective is the value of health care delivery, or the patient health outcomes relative to the total cost (inputs) of attaining those outcomes. (1)
Productivity is measured by the relationship between outputs and cost, for example the number of peopletreated per bed per year . Efficiency is measured by the relationship between outcomes, not outputs, and costs, where the costs may be expressed not only as money but also as carbon or time, including the time of patients and carers. Technical value has to take into account not only efficiency but also the possibility of overuse and underuse
This is not only achieved by evidence-based decision-making, essential though that is. The balance of good to harm changes as the amount of resources invested in an intervention or service increases as Avedis Donabedian showed in his classic diagram in 1980 which is reproduced below:
Value is replacing quality as the dominant paradigm for healthcare in the 21st century. Value is of course increased by quality improvement, by doing things better, cheaper, safer and greener; but doing things right is only half the story – it is also essential to do the right things by making the right decisions about identifying and discontinuing lower value activities.