Risk Driven Care Pathways in Publicly Funded Care

Abstract

Increasingly, governments are looking at how they make most effective use of the resources that are allocated to health systems. There has always been a consideration of need and demand in this approach, but traditionally the focus has been on treatment for disease once it is present. Arguments both economic and moral have been advanced for predicting and preventing disease as an effective and complementary approach. The ability to do this hinges on our understanding of the aetiology and progression of diseases, and within that the contributing risk factors. In order to reduce variation in outcomes and drive evidence-based care, identification of risk factors is increasingly being embedded within care pathways. These risk-driven care pathways acknowledge the common risk factors which exist across a range of oral and general diseases and are encouraging self-care from patients. This is leading to a widespread policy change towards bringing health and social care professionals together integrated systems to meet the prevention and treatment needs of their local populations.