Tag: Future of costing

Why changing your costing solution is essential for improvement

Posted on: 12 February 2024
Why changing your costing solution is essential for improvement

Every NHS organisation has a costing system. However, not all costing systems can keep up with the changing demands and increased digitalisation required from organisations to continue delivering exceptional patient level costing outcomes.  

In our previous blog on the future of costing, we explored how ICBs can effectively prepare for upcoming costing changes and how they can cut costs no matter their level of digital maturity or data comprehension. Today, we’ll uncover why now is the time to change your costing solution with the help of CACI and the benefits of doing so. 

So, is it time to share your PLICS data? Does your costing system give you the opportunity to share patient level costing information and data analytics that will help you make the best decisions both now and in the future? 

Why our costing solution, Synergy, is different

Synergy, CACI’s patient level information costing solution (PLICS), is uniquely designed for the NHS and transforms costing teams’ capabilities by: 

  • Freeing up valuable time to analyse crucial results. Synergy ensures the NHS costing process is streamlined by enabling cost allocation, review and visualisation at patient level easily.  
  • Keeping you in control of improving patient outcomes. With Synergy, your organisation will gain more control over your data and costing model and augment your understanding of the patient pathway and costs in your organisation.  
  • Increasing self-sufficiency. Synergy comes with a user-friendly system that is easy for all levels within your costing team to use, promoting self-sufficiency.  
  • Empowering stakeholder & ICS member collaboration through enhanced data sharing and revolutionised decision-making. Your organisation will gain access to class leading analytics that are produced by our in-house experts to promote benchmarking and streamline data sharing to ensure your costing team meets deadlines on time and on budget. 
  • Redefining data reporting and sharing capabilities through distinct architecture. Synergy is a one-of-a-kind costing solution with its composition including a Data Mart layer, setting itself apart from traditional costing solutions by supplying users with total access to all of the data within their costing system and boundless data sharing both within the organisation and to external partners. 

Why it’s time to change your costing solution to Synergy

Transitioning from your costing solution to Synergy is simple. No IT skills are needed for set-up, and it can be easily and securely deployed in an HSCN connected data centre within a matter of weeks. You will be part of a highly engaged user community that meet regularly to share best practices and insights on product development. 

How CACI can help you migrate costing solutions

CACI works with costing teams across the UK to help them gain a deeper understanding of their patient pathways and costs and make decisions that improve patient outcomes. If you’d like to find out more about changing your costing solution to Synergy, please contact one of our experts, Susan Brooks.  

Read the first blog in our future of costing series here.  

How do ICBs successfully prepare for future changes in costing?

Posted on: 27 November 2023
How do ICBs successfully prepare for future changes in costing?

Integrated care boards (ICBs) were born to bring the NHS together locally to improve population health and establish and achieve shared strategic priorities. Although ICBs are vital to the future delivery and improvement of healthcare systems, their introduction has not been without hurdles.  

Earlier this year, NHS England challenged ICBs to reduce their running costs by at least 20% in 2024/25 and 30% by 2025/26. This comes with heightened challenges of digital and data not being prioritised at board level in most areas, with only 38% of ICBs having an Executive Director focused on digital, data or intelligence.  

With fast-approaching deadlines to meet, what can ICBs do to cut costs no matter the comprehension level of digital or data?  

Where can ICBs make savings?

Reallocating & distributing funding

To supply optimal patient level care, ICBs must be equipped with an optimal patient level costing solution. Now more than ever, it is critical for ICBs to work with NHS providers to create a single view of population and personal health and collect and utilise high-quality data to drive cost efficiencies. ICS leaders remain concerned about funding available for patient treatments and recognise that this is essential to uphold the sector’s productivity. NHS funding has always been focused on treating single acute illnesses and single chronic conditions or injuries rather than preventing them. It is now more focused on treating the whole patient and considering the prevention agenda.  

To direct patient treatment funding to the most effective setting, ICBs must innately understand the cost of each patient pathway across all settings in the system.

Organising critical data for optimal use 

When it comes to organising critical data, it is integral that ICBs have a strong working relationship with local governments, providers and the VCFSE sector to faciliate this. A framework of data sharing standards should also be developed to achieve enhanced interoperability and data sharing across organisational barriers to further encourage cost efficiencies.

 
Third-party support to meet priorities and achieve strategic objectives

ICBs unite stakeholders across the healthcare sector to address immediate and long-term priorities and challenges to improve health outcomes. Effectively addressing this requires ICBs to enhance their self-sufficiency and self-improving systems by working with the NHS and third-party partners to develop robust shareable models and fine-tune skills locally. Considering this, ICB leaders are continuously seeking out new opportunities ways to leverage system providers’ skillsets and contributions, and remain positive about system providers’ commitment and contribution. Increased self-sufficiency and self-improvement will also free up NHS funding for ICBs to better address priorities and challenges. 

Data sharing

While ICSs exist because of collaboration and partnerships between their providers, sharing usable data between the providers isn’t straightforward. If ICBs could safely and securely share data, connect data and run true system data analysis from required data sources, they would be able to accelerate their work in various activities from improving patient and staff care and outcomes to optimising the productivity of the wider health and care system at cost.

 
Delivering training & knowledge sharing opportunities

ICBs have been strongly encouraged to enhance their existing peer review processes to allow for inter-ICS benchmarking, best practice sharing and accountability strengthening to drive cost efficiencies. NHS Trust leaders have felt incredibly positive about ICBs’ role in fostering a sense of shared responsibility and collective endeavour among system partners, their collective problem-solving abilities and their sharing of practices on patient care and outcomes are key to future system and healthcare improvements.  

Making the future of costings successful with CACI

Although the journey towards cost efficiencies for ICBs undoubtedly comes with hurdles to jump, CACI’s expert team are equipped with the necessary industry knowledge and experience in data transformation to support and enable a revolutionary journey to a successful SMART result.  

To find out how we can help prepare your ICB for a successful journey, please contact one of our experts, Susan Brooks.