Making a case for Value-Based Care (VBC)

Percept and Leapfrog to Value | June 2023

The maternity care pathway – including antenatal, birthing, postpartum and neonatal care – is a critical predictor for women, infant and child health. By implication, it also shapes the health and well-being of families, populations, and future generations. Yet, pregnancy and childbirth remain major drivers of morbidity, poor patient experience, and costs, both in South Africa and across the world.

To support the improvement of maternal and infant care, we need a standardised framework for determining value in the maternity care pathway. Value-based care (VBC) is a framework for transforming health systems that aligns resources and incentives in ways that improve quality of care and is responsive to patient priorities. This orientation is reflected in each of the three pillars of a value-based care solution: (1) the care delivery model, (2) payment and incentives, and (3) measurement.

To shift a health system toward VBC, evidence-based clinical outcomes as well as outcomes that matter to pregnant women and mothers need to be measured. Percept has partnered with Leapfrog to Value to help healthcare providers design and implement value-based solutions for maternity care in South Africa, from the first antenatal visit to one-year post-birth. A VBC experiment will explore and test the hypothesis that a more human-centred approach to maternal and infant care will not only improve health outcomes for women and children, but will also amount to a better buy for healthcare systems.

We want you to imagine: how might we reorient maternity care to perform well on patient-centred, clinical outcomes and cost measures? How might value be unlocked for providers, payers, and patients?