Background & Aims

Chronic pain is an important problem for many people, the healthcare system and society. Chronic pain affects various aspects of daily life, causing physical or social decline, psychological problems, and a reduction in quality of life. In the Netherlands, over two million people suffer from chronic pain, with an estimated cost of around €20 Billion per year, including 700,000 people with severe pain and 33,000 patients with complex problems. Additionally, there are challenges in treating chronic pain, such as over- and under-treatment of patients, fragmented care, and moderate to poor treatment outcomes. Three (national) approaches have been addressed to improve patients health care: 1) The National Care Standard for chronic pain that advocates for providing optimal care; 2) Value-based healthcare as a delivery model that focuses on improving quality of patient care while reducing costs; 3) the “Integrated Care agreement” (IZA, 2022). However, concrete tools are still lacking.

Methods

The Value4Pain consortium (V4P) aims to address the major issues in chronic pain by accelerating value-based pain care. V4P consortium consists of public and private frontrunners in the field of chronic pain (Maastricht University Medical Center+ (MUMC+) Pain Medicine, Maastricht University and Medtronic Integrated Health Solutions). The aim is to provide insights into the complex care process, develop tools for goal-setting and shared decision-making, and create predictive models to determine treatment outcomes. V4P will achieve these goals through three work packages:1) Integrating relevant data into a comprehensive platform, 2) Developing a Patient-Value-Application to assist patients in setting their goals and participating in shared decision-making, and 3) creating predictive models to determine which patients would benefit the “most or least” from a specific treatment or care plan.

Results

V4P objectives are to improve the treatment of chronic pain patients particularly those from low socio-economic backgrounds and those who have high levels of pain, anxiety, depression and catastrophizing. V4P aims to provide more personalized pain management and to contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of those with chronic pain. The annual costs of chronic pain in the Netherlands are estimated at 20 billion euros, and much of this cost is due to patients seeking the right treatment without success. If the V4P initiative leads to a 1% more efficient chronic pain care system, it could save 200 million euros annually and improve the quality of life for 100,000 people. The efficiency in the care pathway can benefit both patients and healthcare providers, as it reduces repeated hospital visits, saves time and travel costs, and minimizes operational gaps.

Conclusions

The consortium hypothesizes that a data-driven approach is essential for maintaining accessible, high-quality healthcare at affordable costs. The V4P project is important for MUMC+ and University Maastricht as it helps to fulfil their goal in providing high-quality patient care and promoting value-based healthcare.

References

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Poster Authors

Sophie Waardenburg

PhD

MUMC+

Lead Author

Topics

  • Access to Care