Citation for the Griffiths Medal 2025
Jesica de Armas, Marcelus Fabri and Helena Ramalhinho
Impact of quality of service in the direct cost of integrated home care services
Health Systems, Volume 13 (3) 246-262
https://doi.org/10.1080/20476965.2024.2313465
The judges found it a difficult task choosing a winner from a pool of high-quality, impactful and innovative articles. They would like to congratulate Jesica de Armas, Marcelus Fabri and Helena Ramalhinho for their excellent paper titled “Impact of quality of service in the direct cost of integrated home care services” as worthy winners of the Griffiths Medal for the best paper published in Health Systems over the past two years.
This study makes a significant contribution to the planning of social care services, a topic of growing importance given the increasing pressures on the sector. The authors investigate how different aspects of Quality of Service influence the costs of Integrated Home Health and Social Care services. As populations age and demand for care grows, delivering high-quality services efficiently is a key challenge. The authors develop a novel mathematical (Mixed Integer Linear Programming) model that helps optimise scheduling of caregivers tasks. Their analysis reveals that small adjustments in scheduling can lead to significant cost savings while improving or maintaining quality of care. The judges considered this a valuable and timely contribution, especially in its value for strategic planning. The model provides service managers with practical insights into how cost and quality interact, helping them make informed decisions when designing and managing care services. This is an excellent example of an outstanding contribution to the practice of health systems published in the journal Health Systems.