Appropriate care in a hospital: A case study in a breast center

In the face of resource scarcity and demographic shifts, healthcare system’s quality, accessibility, and affordability are under significant strain in the last decades. Strategic solutions are imperative to uphold the high healthcare standards in the Western World. In the Netherlands, the Appropriate Care program emerges as a pivotal strategy to address these challenges through a continuous improvement paradigm, aiming at efficient resource allocation to enhance patient outcomes and curb unnecessary expenditures. This case study identifies improvement areas in breast cancer treatment according to Appropriate Care principles. The paper describes a case study of reducing the healthcare costs for breast cancer patient in a single hospital in the Netherlands. Results include reducing the breast cancer surveillance period, decreasing radiological diagnostic tests for patients with metastasized breast cancer, and omitting proven benign cases from daily multidisciplinary meetings. A Quintuple Aim framework is used for the implementation of improving population health, enhancing care experience, reducing cost, preventing healthcare professional burnout, and promoting health equity. These interventions are anticipated to markedly improve the hospital’s quality, accessibility, and affordability.