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Background Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is a conceptual framework to improve the value of healthcare by health, care-process and economic outcomes. Benchmarking should provide useful information to identify best practices and therefore a good instrument to improve quality across healthcare organizations. This paper aims to provide a proof-of-concept of the feasibility of an international VBHC benchmarking in breast cancer, with the ultimate aim of being used to share best practices with a data-driven approach among healthcare organizations from different health systems. Methods In the VOICE community—a European healthcare centre cluster intending to address VBHC from theory to practice—information on patient-reported, clinical-related, care-process-related and economic-related outcomes were collected. Patient archetypes were identified using clustering techniques and an indicator set following a modified Delphi was defined. Benchmarking was performed using regression models controlling for patient archetypes and socio-demographic characteristics. Results Six hundred and ninety patients from six healthcare centres were included. A set of 50 health, care-process and economic indicators was distilled for benchmarking. Statistically significant differences across sites have been found in most health outcomes, half of the care-process indicators, and all economic indicators, allowing for identifying the best and worst performers. Conclusions To the best of our knowledge, this is the first international experience providing evidence to be used with VBHC benchmarking intention. Differences in indicators across healthcare centres should be used to identify best practices and improve healthcare quality following further research. Applied methods might help to move forward with VBHC benchmarking in other medical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the hypothesis that there is a connection between the standard of living (expressed by the Human Development Index) and the standardised rates of breast cancer incidence and mortality in the female population of Europe. The examination whether the standard of living has an impact on breast cancer incidence and mortality is based on the use of bivariate correlation, as the simplest form of quantitative analysis of two variables which seeks to determine the empirical relationship between them. The second part of the analysis involves the determination of linear relationships using simple linear regression analysis models testing the average impact of the Human Development Index on the standardised breast cancer incidence and mortality rates. The analysis takes into account the importance of yet another socioeconomic factor – response to screening, which can have a major impact on breast cancer mortality.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]