In a world characterised by an ageing population, more and more people suffering from long-term chronic disease, and ever-increasing healthcare costs, improving healthcare value by delivering better health outcomes to patients at lower costs is a critical imperative. We have a long journey ahead in building sustainable heath systems globally that put people at the centre, and we believe we have a collective responsibility to do so.

For the past three years, a critical source of new thinking and research on how to improve healthcare value has been the World Economic Forum’s Value in Healthcare project. Since its launch in July 2016, the project has laid the foundation for health system transformation by defining the critical components of a value-based health system and by emphasising the centrality of multi-stakeholder collaboration to achieving value-based system transformation. In this report, the third and final instalment in the Value in Healthcare report series, we introduce three concrete steps for accelerating the pace of value-based transformation in health systems around the world: 1. A user guide for policymakers and private sectors stakeholders that synthesises key learnings from efforts around the world to transform health systems towards value; 2. A practical roadmap to guide health informatics standardisation, improving our ability to leverage the powerful force of healthcare data towards medical research and real-world evidence, clinical decision-making, patient empowerment and ultimately, improvement in care outcomes; 3. A global coalition that can foster collaboration and continue to drive the agenda for value-based health systems.

We are at a critical turning point for value in healthcare globally. Stakeholders in the sector need to codify and disseminate best practices, develop the global enablers for value-based healthcare, and create new platforms for deeper collaboration. The World Economic Forum and its partners remain committed to collaborating with key stakeholders to drive value-based transformation of the global health systems.

Report by the World Economic Forum