Integrated care: Why not faster, better and cheaper?

Integrated care has long been called for in the Swiss healthcare system and yet many corresponding projects are stagnating. Why is that? What could be done in concrete terms? Will everything be better thanks to EFAS? - Integrated healthcare refers to the deliberate coordination of healthcare services in which various service providers work together to ensure patient-centered, needs-based and seamless care. But what does this mean in concrete terms? In coordinated or integrated care, general practitioners, specialists, therapists, hospitals, pharmacies, retirement and care centers - ultimately all 'healthcare professionals' - see themselves as part of a larger whole and pull together for the benefit of the population or patients. There is no lack of good will on the part of individuals, but such holistic seamlessness is rarely guaranteed in Switzerland, even in 2024. Structured, binding cooperation and seamless communication (including electronic data exchange!) serve to ensure the quality of treatment and patient care across the entire supply chain. Integrated care should help to avoid duplication and overprovision and thus also save costs. Efficiency is not only an important factor in healthcare from a cost perspective, but also increases the quality of care. Last but not least, due to the already noticeable shortage of specialists, we must become more efficient in order to guarantee adequate healthcare in Switzerland in the future. Why do we still not have coordinated care in Switzerland today?