Purchaser-Provider Cooperation in Health Care Development

Delivering health care services is one of the most significant areas of expenditure for local government, meaning that service efficiency and quality are key to their sustainable existence. One common way of increasing... [ view full abstract ]

Delivering health care services is one of the most significant areas of expenditure for local government, meaning that service efficiency and quality are key to their sustainable existence. One common way of increasing efficiency and quality has been by separating the purchaser form the provider in public organisations, including health care. In the NHS, different forms of purchaser-provider cooperation in delivering health care services are emerging due to an organizational reformation in 2013 encouraging competition. This sector therefore provides a rich source of information of how different cooperation models emerged and how they have affected service delivery.

The aim of our research is twofold: to i) analyse the relationship between different forms of purchaser-provider cooperation and quality of care and ii) identify best practices in purchaser-provider cooperation in health service development. Our data collection method comprises of a combination of archival data (and document) analysis and semi-structured interviews. The data is collected from several local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) based in England, with a focus on cancer care given the national issues and significant expenditure in cancer care. The contribution of this study will be an analysis of the current state of purchaser-provider cooperation in health service development and identified best practices for developing public health care services in cooperation with service providers.

Keywords: public services, English NHS, health care, purchaser/provider relations, contracting