Continuous Value Management in Healthcare

Dr Cameron Stark. Visiting Reader and Part-Time Lecturer, University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), Scotland. Cameron is a Module Leader on UHI’s Postgraduate teaching on healthcare quality. He graduated in Medicine from the University of Glasgow, and holds Masters degrees from the University of Glasgow, and the University of Leicester, UK. Cameron was a Consultant in Public Health Medicine with NHS Scotland for 29 years. He was the Quality Improvement Science lead for NHS Highland when it was the pilot site for the introduction of Value Management. Cameron has co-written or co-edited eight previous textbooks and has published over 60 papers in peer-reviewed journals.Kay Cordiner is the Senior Operational Manager for Acute Urgent and Unscheduled Care at Raigmore Hospital, NHS Scotland, where she leads strategic priorities across NHS Highland. A trained nurse with over 20 years of experience in critical care and acute medical admissions, Kay brings deep clinical insight to her leadership in high-pressure healthcare environments. She previously managed key unscheduled care services including the Emergency Department, medical admissions, ambulatory care, bed flow, and GP out-of-hours. Internationally, Kay serves as faculty for the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (USA), coaching value management initiatives with organisations such as Hamad Medical Corporation (Qatar), Northwell Health (New York), NHS Scotland, and Western Health and Social Care Trust (Northern Ireland). She also contributes to the Efficiency Improvement Collaborative with the Center for National Health Insurance in Saudi Arabia. Her work has been published in the Harvard Business Review, BMJ, and Routledge, and she is a frequent speaker at quality improvement and patient safety forums worldwide.Dr. Poonam Gupta, Senior Improvement Advisor, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom. Dr Gupta’s work has spanned India, the Middle East, and the United Kingdom, allowing her to gain valuable insights and contribute to healthcare improvement on a global scale. Dr Gupta was previously Head of Quality Improvement at the Heart Hospital of Hamad Medical Corporation in Doha, Qatar. She was the Program Director for Value Improvement in the Heart Hospital and led work on Value Management. Dr Gupta trained as an Improvement Advisor and Patient Safety Executive with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Boston, USA. Her commitment to improving healthcare systems is further evidenced by her numerous publications in international peer-reviewed journals, covering a wide range of topics related to healthcare quality improvement and patient safety. Beyond her research and advisory roles, Dr. Gupta plays an integral part in the healthcare community. She serves as an Assistant Deputy Editor for the ISQUA Journal. Dr. Gupta's dedication and contributions have earned her more than 15 awards for various Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (QIPS) initiatives. She has been a speaker at both local and international forums dedicated to quality improvement and patient safety, where she shares her insights and experiences with fellow professionals.Jeff Rakover, Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Jeff’s research at IHI focuses on defining and improving value delivered by healthcare systems through a focus on measurement, management, and innovation. He also has worked in areas including improvement for obstetrical care, ambulatory safety, and behavioral health. Jeff, along with Kay Cordiner, Brian Maskell, Kedar Mate, and others, was part of the initial team that developed the value management approach in health care. Jeff holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government (2012) and graduated from Harvard College in 2006.

• Foreword for CVM Book. Foreword. About the Authors. Acknowledgements. Chapter 1: Introduction. Chapter 2: The Challenges of Delivering Quality in Healthcare. Chapter 3: Supporting Structures. Chapter 4: Continuous Value Management. Chapter 5: Describing Processes and Creating a Box Score. Chapter 6: Getting Started with a Team. Chapter 7: Representing and Analysing Data. Chapter 8: Improvement in Practice. Chapter 9: Incorporating Huddles. Chapter 10: The Coach’s Role in Continuous Value Management. Chapter 11: Conclusions. Appendix 1: Team Agreement Example. Appendix 2: Pre-work Package: Value Management at NHS Scotland: Pre-Work Packet for New Units. Appendix 3: Improvement Capability Assessment. Appendix 4: Huddle Check Sheet for Coaches. Appendix 5: Continuous Value Management Script. Appendix 6: Institute for Healthcare Improvement PDSA Form. Appendix 7: Example of an Improvement Tracker Form. Appendix 8: Continuous Value Improvement Pulse Survey. Appendix 9: Progress Checklist. Appendix 10: Coaching Standard Work.

'Continuous Value Management in Healthcare' is a great tool for individuals and teams to undertake vital work of quality improvement in healthcare organisations. The book presents a range of complex and challenging ideas in a highly engaging and easily understandable manner, balancing a mix of theory and case studies to produce a resource applicable for all organisational contexts. The book is an excellent resource for professionals addressing wicked problems in rapidly changing clinical, administrative and interprofessional environments.Professor David Greenfield, School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health UNSW SYDNEY, Australia"Continuous Value Management in Healthcare" is a timely and transformative contribution to the field of organizational improvement. Drawing from real-world application within NHS Highland and beyond, this book offers a compelling methodology that bridges strategic intent with operational execution—ensuring that value is not only created but continuously sustained.The authors present a clear, actionable framework that empowers leaders and teams to align around shared outcomes, make data-informed decisions, and adapt dynamically to changing needs. What sets this book apart is its grounding in lived experience: NHS Highland’s journey of adoption of CVM demonstrates how even complex, resource-constrained systems can achieve measurable, meaningful change.Whether you're a healthcare leader, public sector innovator, or enterprise strategist, this book provides the tools and insights needed to embed value at the heart of your organization’s culture. It’s not just a methodology—it’s a mindset shift.A must-read for anyone serious about delivering lasting impact.David Park, Deputy Chief Executive NHS Highland, ScotlandAs a passionate advocate for quality and safety, I see this book as an essential guide for healthcare systems pursuing meaningful, team-driven transformation. It aligns daily operations with strategic intent and inspires healthcare leaders to deliver value that truly matters Dr. Anuradha Pichumani, Executive Director, Sree Renga Hospital, Chengalpattu, TN India Board Member, ISQua & ASQuaAssociate Faculty, | Ariadne Labs | Brigham and Women’s Hospital | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public HealthPrincipal Assessor, NABH, Chairperson - Quality Professionals Wing, CAHOI embarked on my first Continuous Value Management project a number of years ago and I think it is fair to say that I did so with a healthy dose of scepticism! Having been in the NHS for 40 years I felt that I had heard it all and seen enough of top-down command structures to justify that scepticism.I had identified a few separate issues within my cardiology department that my Value Management lead helped me align. Our staffing establishment lacked structure and opportunity for staff with a very limited cohort of senior band 6 posts available. A separate issue was a delay in time to discharge patients, often resulting in a bottleneck when emergency beds were required. Our Value Management project created an association whereby we demonstrated that redistributing staffing funds to create more band 6 posts also resulted in them taking a more proactive role in patient discharge processes and reducing the time to discharge. Ultimately, we ended up with more senior opportunities and therefore better staff retention while also improving efficiency in discharging patients and vacating emergency beds.So, while Value Management cannot fix all ills my experience was that it improved productivity and creativity within our department. Importantly, by being imaginative, we did so without additional funding.Charlie Bloe, Lead Nurse for Cardiology, CCU, Raigmore Hospital, Scotland'Continuous Value Management in Healthcare’ addresses the universal challenge of maximising value in healthcare. The book offers a practical and empowering framework designed to help staff achieve meaningful, measurable, and sustainable change. With relatable case studies and insights that redefine how quality and cost can work together, readers will find evidence-based strategies to reduce waste, optimise resources, and engage staff at every level. Providing a practical toolkit for building resilient, high-performing healthcare systems that benefit both patients and professionals, this book is a compass for navigating today’s complex healthcare landscape. Victoria Saffin, Assistant Director of Quality Management, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, EnglandI first became aware of value management whilst working as an NHS Accountant. Finance reports are often dull, complex and hard for staff to interpret. However, by using value management I was able to present this information to staff in a more visual and easier to understand format. This clearly demonstrated the interrelationships between activity, performance, capacity and cost. I had never been so popular as an Accountant! I soon found staff were keen to take ownership of this data which empowered them to find and test solutions to the problems which they had identified. Without value management this data would have remained within these dull finance reports, and I would have returned to my spreadsheets instead of feeling part of a team delivering much needed quality improvement work.Adrian Conroy, Medical Division Service Manager, NHS Highland, ScotlandHealthcare costs need efficiently managed to minimise waste. This is a universal problem which requires constant vigilance. Continuous value management is arguably the most effective approach to this challenging issue, and this book gives a superb, practical approach that will help you to manage your service better.Hugo van Woerden, Visiting Professor, Ulster University, Northern IrelandThis book captures the essence of Continous Value Management—empowering healthcare teams to drive impactful improvements across diverse settings, while focusing on what truly matters: patient care and efficient use of resources.Vicky Woods, Director of Quality, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, England