Mark Jennings
Chief Solutions Officer, Strasys
Building organisational intelligence
“All [statistical] models are wrong, but some are useful” is a useful adage to live by, especially in Healthcare. The NHS world is full of data and measures but notably lacking in insight.
“How do we know?” is a question we frequently ask ourselves, about topics such as medical professionalism, treatment efficacy, board effectiveness, and Trust efficiency but we can rarely get to a sufficiently clear answer given the complexities of the environment and topics.
Strasys is all about helping Boards achieve Decision Intelligence – making better decisions. Over time, multiple good decisions cumulatively build into Organisational Intelligence, meaning organisations with successful, positive cultures and outcomes.
To help identify and evaluate Organisational Intelligence, we have developed the Strasys Value Index (SVI).
What is the Strasys Value Index?
Put simply, SVI looks at how much activity of good quality a Trust or ICB delivers relative to its costs to run, adjusted for the context in which it operates.
We look at activity performed in a year (A&E, inpatients and outpatients) and adjust that according to a basket of quality metrics. Lots of poor quality activity is not the objective, so activity volume is reduced or enhanced relative to the quality of work done.
All our quality metrics fit in the category of “there may be very valid reasons for why it is what it is, but improving the metric would be a positive development”.
That view of quality-adjusted work is then further adjusted for customer service, which looks at wait times. These are the most fundamental determinants of good service that patients really care about. Doing great work after an inexcusable wait is not great work.
The next adjustment is to look at the complexity of the environment in which the organisation is operating, specifically levels of disease and deprivation within the patient cohort. A Trust dealing with high levels of disease or deprivation needs recognition for achieving quality and cost-adjusted levels of output relative to a Trust not facing such complexity.
What is this telling us so far?
A few early findings stand out.
2023 saw a surge in value across Trusts as recovery from the pandemic really picked up. It may not have felt like it from the media reporting, but per (inflation-adjusted) £1,000 spent in 2023 Acute Trusts were delivering 60% more value than in 2022. The talk of declining productivity is not borne out in the data when you take a holistic view of the landscape.
However, 2024 saw those gains eroded and a significant step backwards. Variation in relative value delivery is huge. There is more than a 7x difference in value delivered per £1,000 of funding between the highest and lowest ranked acute trusts on the SVI.
By analysing SVI trends over the past seven years, we can identify which organisations are improving and which are struggling. These insights help leaders target areas for intervention and improvement.
Why the Strasys Value Index matters
The SVI offers a holistic view of performance, combining efficiency, quality, service, and context. It empowers healthcare leaders to understand their organisation’s strengths and areas of opportunity, track progress over time, and make data-driven decisions that drive meaningful change and create value.
If you’re curious about how your organisation measures up or want to learn more about the Strasys Value Index, reach out to mark@strasys.uk.