This report will explore how the latest technologies, with a focus on cardiovascular care, are creating value and efficiencies at three key tiers of the health system: (1) health system policy and organization (the macro level), (2) health care delivery and practice (at the meso level), and (3) medical knowledge and product development (usually deployed at the micro or clinical level). Understanding the current direction of technological advancement may then provide a starting point for identifying innovative project ideas that solve health system gaps.
The report aims to synthesise the latest evidence on integrated care, drawing on the various dimensions of policy making and research informing this transition in the delivery of care. The focus of the report is Europe, specifically, France, the UK, Germany, Spain, and Italy; however, North American resources are also referenced.
The report is designed to give a succinct summary of a vast literature that is relevant to this topic by characterising disease trends, socioeconomic trends, developments in the practice of care, changing workforce skills, and the evolving regulatory environment. These issues are principally viewed through the prism of cardiovascular disease, for which efforts to integrate care are most pressing given the burden this represents and that care management in this space tends to transcend several health provider settings and technology types.