The process has been carried out through the “SCIROCCO tool” which allows the assessment of a region’s readiness to provide integrated care.
SCIROCCO Exchange aims to support health and social care authorities in adopting and scaling up integrated care in their health systems. The European project seeks to foster customized knowledge transfer between regions and planning for improvements in integrated care in their health systems. Kronikgune Institute and Osakidetza are part of a consortium of 14 partners from nine European regions. SCIROCCO Exchange is also working on the development of the Knowledge Management Hub (KMH) that will integrate evidence-based assets related to integrated care from each region and scientific databases that will provide the basis and assist in the adoption of instruments to improve health systems towards integrated care.
In the first phase of the project, the nine pilot regions have self-assessed the maturity of their health systems in terms of integrated care using the “SCIROCCO tool“. Kronikgune Institute and Osakidetza have been responsible for carrying out this process in the Basque Country, which has been working for years to transform its health and social care system towards integrated care. Along these lines, Osakidetza has strengthened and expanded an integrated approach by implementing different processes and tools. In 2010, it launched the plan to create Integrated Health Organizations (OSIs) in order to achieve integration between the different levels of care (Primary Care and Hospital) and to be able to offer coordinated, quality care adapted to patients’ needs. Currently, Osakidetza has 13 OSIs spread throughout the Basque Autonomous Community.
Kronikgune Institute, with the support of the Integration and Chronicity Service (SIAC), has selected ten experts from the integrated care service of Osakidetza and the Ministry of Health of the Basque Government to form part of a multidisciplinary group. The participants, once they had individually carried out the self-assessment of integrated care in the Basque Country using the “SCIROCCO tool“, took part in a workshop to share their conclusions and reach a consensus. The self-assessment process has enabled to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the integrated care plan implemented in the Basque Country and to analyze the progress achieved to date. The group has also discussed and gained a better understanding of the conditions necessary to improve and achieve a successful deployment of integrated care in the Basque Health System.
The results of the Basque Country self-assessment reflect the maturity of the Basque Health System and the progress made in recent years in developing and implementing new services, tools and improving the system towards an integrated and person-centered system. Some examples of this progress are stratification tool implemented to identify people who are more likely to require greater healthcare services in the future; the progress made in the information systems with the deployment of Osabide Global platform; the Electronic Health Record or the Personal Health Folder, a tool through where citizens can consult reports, analyses or upcoming appointments; or the promotion of patient empowerment through educational programs such as Active Patient or the Kronik ON Program for complex chronic patients.
If you would like to learn more about the project, visit the official website by clicking on the following link: https://www.sciroccoexchange.com/
