Want to improve healthcare productivity? Want to deliver more integrated, patient-centric care? ‘Capitation funding’ is finally gaining momentum. Year-of-Care or similar capitation funding models is the only way to ensure more integrated care and to drive productivity improvements within the NHS. Without this funding mechanism, providers of healthcare are simply not incentivized to do the right thing.
Will it happen over the next few years? Our view is that this funding model will relatively quickly be adopted by the NHS Commissioning Board for cohorts of easily identifiable patients. The introduction of Year-of-Care Tariff for stable HIV patients is a good example. The other logical area is the management of long-term conditions – particularly those with frequent hospital admissions.