Have you ever wondered how much value NHS Direct adds to the NHS in your area? Over the past 18 months we have been developing a model to quantify the value we deliver to the wider health economy, at a national, SHA and PCT level.
To develop the model, we interviewed a representative sample of callers, asking them what action they would have taken if the NHS Direct service hadn’t been available to them. We then looked at the advice we gave patients and whether they followed that advice. By looking at the difference between what patients did based on our advice, and what they would otherwise have done, we identified where NHS Direct creates efficiencies by driving more appropriate use of urgent care services. We then quantified the financial impact of this benefit for commissioners.
As part of this work, we have developed a patient segmentation for NHS Direct based on the way different people interact with our services. For each of our seven patient segments, we have identified their socio-demographic group, where they live and ways in which we can reach them with promotional messages. Our patient segmentation has also been mapped against MOSAIC classifications.
We believe that our value model and patient segmentation provides intelligence which will be useful to commissioners and providers in the following ways:
To find out more about the value NHS Direct adds to the NHS in your area and to explore how we can work together to maximise the potential of the data we have available, please contact your Regional Director.
There is a full presentation of the value model available. If you would like to request a copy, please contact lisa.potter@nhsdirect.nhs.uk or tel: 0207 599 4223.
