The 3 Keys to Improving Quality in Value-Based Healthcare

• Understand the balanced scorecard and improvement cycles

• Identify categories of actions to take in the patient tier of the quality pyramid

• Identify communication strategies to take in the patient tier of the quality pyramid

• Review patient tier of quality pyramid

• Introduce process mapping to identify the most targeted approach to quality improvement and cost efficiency

• Review examples of micro and macro processing mapping

• Review process tier of quality pyramid

• Introduce strategies for continuous improvements within the domains of patients and processes

• Review benchmarking as key strategy

• Review types of quality measures (e.g., CROMs, PROMs, PREMs) – refer to our introductory quality course for more details

• Using SMART goals for change (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)

• Link the quality pyramid to efforts to reduce hospital readmissions

• Discuss importance of teams and planning

• Describe key success factors, including culture, communication, and collaboration

• Observe quality pyramid in action with case study from University of Florida

• Review quality pyramid (patient, process, progress)

• Dig deeper into patient tier of quality pyramid

• Dig deeper into process tier of quality pyramid

• Dig deeper into progress tier of quality pyramid

• Dig deeper into quality improvement, including external resources

In 2023, Value Intelligence’s Elissa Swift interviewed Brent Walker, then the Senior Vice President, Consumer Science & Psychographics with Upfront Healthcare. Today, he is the Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of Psympl Inc.

In this 40-minute interview, Brent emphasizes the transformative potential of psychographic segmentation in healthcare by focusing on patients’ values, attitudes, beliefs, and motivations – factors that explain why individuals behave the way they do. Drawing from his experience at Procter & Gamble, Brent highlights the limitations of traditional demographic and behavioral segmentation and stresses that healthcare providers, insurers, and hospital leaders must understand patients’ intrinsic motivations to drive better engagement and outcomes.

His five-segment psychographic model has evolved over time, expanding across generations and geographies, with significant international insights such as the prevalence of “priority jugglers” in the UK. Brent explains how tailoring communication – its message, channel, and frequency – to each psychographic segment enhances patient engagement, reduces hospital readmissions, improves adherence to care plans, and increases patient satisfaction. He illustrates that psychographics also play a crucial role in shared decision-making, showing how different segments prefer varying levels of provider guidance versus autonomy.

Brent sees psychographic segmentation as a scalable complement to tools like the Patient Activation Measure, with future advances enabling more individualized patient engagement through AI and machine learning, ultimately supporting precision engagement strategies that extend beyond traditional healthcare data.

In 2023, Value Intelligence’s Elissa Swift interviewed Dr. Mark R. Hemmila, Professor of Surgery and Associate Chief Medical Information Officer of Surgery Departments at the University of Michigan Medical School.

Dr. Hemmila emphasizes that benchmarking alone is insufficient to drive significant improvements in healthcare outcomes. It is the combination of benchmarking with a collaborative quality improvement framework that leads to the greatest success.

In his study, trauma centers that participated in both benchmarking and a regional collaborative saw the most significant reductions in complications, including venous thromboembolism. He explains that collaboration activates key psychological levers – such as peer comparisons, process-focused scorecards, and financial incentives – that motivate action in busy clinical settings.

Dr. Hemmila underscores the importance of trust, emotional intelligence, and prioritizing collaborative goals over individual ambitions. While regional proximity initially helped foster relationships, technology now allows for broader participation, though in-person interactions remain valuable. He notes that focusing on process measures rather than raw outcomes or complex risk adjustments keeps the group aligned and action-oriented.

Lastly, Dr. Hemmila stresses the importance of maintaining trust, choosing solvable problems, and building momentum – like Warren Buffett’s metaphor of rolling a snowball with the right conditions for sustained impact.

Use the links under “Resources for this lecture” to download these additional materials.