Quality of care in focus

Quality of care in focus - Bure and Picker Institute form joint company Bure Health Care is investing in a joint-venture company with The Picker Institute, Boston. The company will be named Picker Europe Ltd and will carry out research into the patients' perception of quality of care, initially in Sweden, Great Britain and Switzerland. The Picker Institute bases its operations on work carried out by Harvard Medical School and today includes the US Ministry of Health among its clients. "This collaboration is a break-through for us. Now we have access to a method which both customers and providers of care services are able to use actively with the aim of developing and improving the quality of care. The method focuses on the dimensions which the patients perceive as the most important but which traditionally are seldom included in measurements of care quality," says Per Båtelson, Managing Director of Bure Health Care. Bure Health Care is currently working with The Picker Institute in seven Swedish hospitals. The project is carried out in collaboration with the Swedish Institute for Health Care Development, Spri. It provides medical practitioners, nurses, hospital management and purchasers of health care with a tool which enables them to incorporate more positively the perspectives of the patients in the development of care services. Picker's data base also provides access to international material for comparison regarding patient- experienced quality - an important source in the procurement and monitoring of care services which are carried out by both public and private care providers. "When we talk about quality of care, we need to remember that patients are, in many ways, the only ones who can tell us if they are getting what they need," says Susan Edgman-Levitan, President of The Picker Institute in Boston. "Health care isn't only about financing, or re-engineering which often characterises the current debate. Above all, it concerns taking care of people who are trying to live their lives with chronic illness". The Picker Institute provides health care organisations with patient surveys, education and training programmes aimed at incorporating the patient's perspective in the delivery and management of care. The Institute was formed 10 years ago. The newly-formed company, Picker Europe Ltd has its registered office in London. Bure Health Care forms part of Investment AB Bure. Bure Health Care carries out operations in the sectors: specialist health care, geriatric care, occupational health care, laboratory services and distribution of health care products. The Business Sector has a turnover rate of more than SEK 2 billion and approximately 2,800 employees. For further information please contact: Per Båtelson, Managing Director of Bure Health Care +46 31-335 76 35 Susan Edgman-Levitan, President of The Picker Institute, +1 617 667 2388 Boston Thomas Delblanco, Chairman of the Picker Institute, Boston +1 617 667 3992 Flemming Rosleff, Acting Managing Director of Picker Europe, +46 708 446 231 London