Paying hospitals for all patients’ visits increases activity without necessarily improving quality, report shows

The NHS can learn from recent attempts elsewhere in Europe to reform healthcare payment systems but it will take time to create the “optimal blend” of strategies that works best in the United Kingdom, a new report has concluded.

The health policy think tank the Nuffield Trust has studied trends in payment reorganisation across Europe and considered what lessons may apply for healthcare systems such as the NHS. The trust’s report was published on 23 August.1

Its director, Jennifer Dixon, who co-wrote the report, said that it was clear from the review that payment reform in England was “going in the right direction.”

The report says that the search for efficiencies in healthcare is wide ranging and that, although national payment systems can be used …