Valuing Care has launched a new online ‘Continuing Healthcare (CHC) Cost Toolkit’ to help commissioners manage and purchase better, more cost-effective CHC placements.
The online system enables CHC placements to be commissioned in the most cost effective manner. Based on Valuing Care’s cost models and data built up from 10 years of collecting care provider costs, the evidence-based approach of the ‘CHC Cost Toolkit’ includes:
cloud based infrastructure to enable nurses and commissioners to complete and access the same patient’ calculations
web access to allow usage whilst undertaking negotiations with providers
a clear audit trail of purchasing calculations and decisions made
ability to tailor any national cost drivers to a more local level to deal with issues such as carer shortages
the ability to build up local data to benchmark and compare provider margins.
With total spend on CHC across the country reported at £2.5 billion per annum, and as the number of CHC placements continue to rise, the ‘CHC Cost Toolkit’ provides a significant breakthrough for the market and enables commissioners to conduct informed negotiations and get their purchasing into better shape.
Ray Hart, managing director at Valuing Care, says, “The cost of purchasing and managing CHC placements is a complex area that has been overlooked in recent years. This has hampered the progress so desperately required to control costs; prices have continued to rise and yet costs have not been scrutinised. Our ‘CHC Cost Toolkit’ overcomes the inefficiencies that commissioners face with current systems and helps improve visibility, management and control of costs.”
By providing access to comprehensive market intelligence, the ‘CHC Costing Toolkit’ enables commissioners to gain a better understanding of costs, and be more price aware, which helps secure value for money care placements. It also enables placements to be processed much quicker; reducing the amount of time commissioners spend on paperwork and enabling staff to reallocate their time.
