In a move that caught many by surprise, the recently-installed coalition government of Britain has proposed a radical reorganization of the National Health Service (NHS). The goals of the reorganization are to decentralize the control of the NHS budget, dismantle layers of bureaucracy, empower patients, and realize some £20 billion in savings through increased efficiency.  All of this is set against a backdrop that calls for doing more with less – improving outcomes, ensuring high quality care and patient safety and giving providers and hospitals more autonomy while requiring more accountability. The UK, like much of Europe, is looking at ways to restructure budgets and social programs, in an attempt to reduce deficit spending and overall debt. And while the original goals of healthcare reform in the US included cost control, we on this side of the Atlantic did not take the courageous steps necessary to “bend the curve” on health care costs.

This new plan for the NHS, by the government’s own admission, will “cause significant disruption and loss of jobs.” But that disruption will be the result of putting more power into the hands of patients and clinicians, and removing layers of unnecessary management.  Obviously, there is no guarantee that this will work as planned, and much skepticism exists. But this approach must be lauded for its focus on patients, providers and quality. The sacrifices that are called for, in principle, should not interfere with the mission of the NHS, if executed properly.

For the last seven years, Picis has had the privilege of working with many hospitals in the UK, implementing high-acuity clinical and workflow automation solutions in the most cost and resource intensive areas of the hospital: the operating theatres and the critical care units.  These solutions have helped many of these hospitals realize operational efficiencies, and have allowed clinicians to focus on delivering safe, high quality care to their patients.  Empowering clinicians and enhancing efficiency have always been central to the Picis philosophy for our solutions and services – a philosophy that is now the cornerstone of the NHS reorganization.

Taking better care of patients in the safest, most efficacious and efficient manner should be the cornerstone of every health care organization.

- Carlos M. Nunez, M.D.