Opportunities and Challenges to the Implementation of Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC) in SMES: The Case of the State of Qatar

The purpose of this paper is to identify the opportunities and barriers to the implementation of VBHC in SMEs in Qatar. A semi-structured survey was developed to investigate the perspectives of healthcare providers, from SMEs of public and private sectors, on the opportunities and barriers to the adoption of VBHC in Qatar. The respondents include government officials, CEOs, middle managers, first-line managers, and physicians. Twenty-four out of forty respondents responded. The collected data was aggregated and analyzed. Interestingly, the aggregated information is similar in content to some other countries. Examples of main opportunities include ease of implementation, focus being on outcomes that matter to patients and fosterage of integration and collaboration between public and private sectors. The key barriers/challenges include need for standardized communications and technological infrastructure, and conflicting interests of public and private sectors. The concept of VBHC was first introduced in the United States of America (USA) in 2006 to drive the move from fee-for-service (FFS) approach to fee-for-value (FFV) model. Nonetheless, the debate on the effectiveness of this transformation continues. Although the current emphasis on VBHC may offer new opportunities, barriers are also anticipated. Furthermore, the published evidence on this phenomenon is still limited.