AZ Vesalius: a pioneer in data-driven dialogue

A general hospital evolves from financial intuition to clear priorities with Value4Health Cockpit

When AZ Vesalius joined the Value4Health community in 2020, there were barely five or six hospitals involved. The Limburg hospital was one of the early adopters. Not because it wanted to try out a new tool, but because it was grappling with a fundamental question: do we actually know what our care delivery really costs – per procedure, per pathology, per service?

Today, AZ Vesalius looks back on a journey that delivered more than just transparency. The dashboard became a catalyst for internal dialogue and a leverfor setting sharper priorities.

Steven Van Loo, operations manager, and Sigrid Rucquoy, administrative and financial director at AZ Vesalius, explain how that growth process unfolded.

Insights for practical experience

The need for more detail arose from practical experience.

“We were getting more and more questions,” says Steven Van Loo. “What does a service generate? What does a particular technique cost? If we collaborate with other hospitals, what does that mean for us financially? But our accounting operated at cost centre level. Several departments were grouped together there. We were missing the details”.

The Cockpit changed that. By linking accounting data and invoicing datato pseudonymised medical records, AZ Vesalius gained insights for the first time into costs and revenues per stay.

“Initially, the dashboard mainly confirmed what we already suspected.” adds Steven Van Loo. “But the difference is: you can now prove it. You can see exactly where the discrepancies lie.”

For Sigrid Rucquoy, that is crucial: “Without objective evidence, it remains a gut feeling. With this data, you can set targeted priorities. It provides direction.”

Benchmarking: perspective rather than panic

One of the greatest added values turned out to be the benchmarking tool. When an activity is loss-making, that seems problematic at first. But how does that same area compare with other hospitals?

“If a knee operation is loss-making, but that’s the standard, it puts your result into perspective,” says Steven Van Loo. “Perhaps we’re even among the top performers.”

According to Sigrid Rucquoy, this prevents hasty conclusions. “You see what is structural within the sector and what is specific to your own organisation. That distinction is crucial. Otherwise, you’ll be putting your energy into the wrong problems.”

For a regional hospital with limited economies of scale, that nuance is important. Benchmarking helps to steer the organisation realistically.

A concrete example: the operating room

The operating room proved to be a focus area rather logic. The Cockpit revealed that there was potential for improvement here. This led to the use ofthe additional OK Insights module.

“The operating room is a typical cost centre that is under pressure,”says Steven Van Loo. “With the OK Insights, we can look much more specifically at the use of time and resources.”

The analysis went deeper than just overall figures. Operation duration,staff allocation and average length of stay per DRG were compared within the benchmark.

If patients stay longer on average than in other hospitals, that opens up the discussion. Is there a clinical reason for it? Or could our processes be made more efficient? It is not a criticism, but an invitation to look at things together.

From discussing data to discussing improvements

The early years required a lot of effort. Definitions had to be aligned. Data validated. Trust built.

“It took time before the figures were accepted,” acknowledges Steven VanLoo. “At the start, the discussion often remained on definitions. Is everything being calculated in the same way? Are we really comparing apples with apples?”

That phase was necessary. Today, discussions are less about whether there is a problem and more about how to tackle it. That is a fundamental difference. The Cockpit subtly changed the internal dynamics. Finance became less the bearer of ‘bad news’ and more the facilitator of dialogue.

“The fact that you have an external benchmark makes it more objective,”says Steven Van Loo. “It takes some of the emotion out of the conversation.”

A working tool, not a control mechanism

It is important that AZ Vesalius does not view the Cockpit as a calculation module that simply dictates what must stop or continue.

“It’s not a tool that says: this is bad, so we’re not doing it anymore,”emphasises Sigrid Rucquoy. “Healthcare is much more complex than that. Someactivities are loss-making, but strategically or socially necessary. The dashboard indicates trends and direction. After that, you need to dig deeper internally. It’s a starting point, not an end point.”

Due to the nature of the data – often finalised after the year-end – itis less suitable for short-term reporting. “We use it to monitor the big picture,” says Sigrid Rucquoy. “Where are the structural differences? Where isthe improvement potential?”

Learning from fellow hospitals

As an early adopter, AZ Vesalius witnessed the growth of the Value4Health user community at close quarters. What began with five hospitals now numbers almost twenty. The user meetings play an important role in this.

“There, you can really engage in dialogue with hospitals that havesimilar results,” says Steven Van Loo. “Why do you score better on this point? What are we doing differently? That learning process is particularly valuable.”

For smaller hospitals, this offers a unique opportunity: learning from peers with a similar scale and facing similar challenges.

The next step: sharing ultimate responsibility

The ambition for the future is clear: greater ultimate responsibility for the services themselves.

“Today, we actively use the dashboard from a financial perspective,”says Sigrid Rucquoy. “But ideally, clinical services will work with the data themselves.” There is still room for improvement. Everyone recognises the added value. The challenge is to share its use more widely. That requires time andfocus.

That is perhaps the most important lesson from AZ Vesalius’s journey: data-driven working is not a one-off project, but a cultural shift.

Inspiring for other small-scale hospitals

AZ Vesalius proves that as a small-scale hospital, you don’t have to wait for economies of scale to work in a data-driven way.

The Cockpit did not bring about a revolution overnight. But it did bring:

·      greater transparency

·      greater objectivity in discussions

·      clearer priorities

·      and a gradual culture of collaborative improvement

As Sigrid Rucquoy sums it up: “The dashboard helps us ask the right questions. Without data, you remain stuck in assumptions. With data, you canmove forward in a focused way.”

For other small and medium-sized hospitals looking to strengthen their position in a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape, this sends a powerful message: getting started early on pays off – especially if you’re willing to learn and steer the process together.