Health targets are a set of national measures designed to improve the performance of health services. They focus on population health objectives and on reducing inequities.
The More heart and diabetes checks health target began in 2012 and includes a cardiovascular risk assessment (CVDRA) and a blood test for diabetes (HbA1c) delivered in primary care settings.
The goal was for 90 percent of people in specified age and ethnicity cohorts to have had their risk assessed in the past five years. A budget included national funding, and incentives and sanctions for district health boards (DHBs) and primary health organisations (PHOs) to achieve the target.
Purpose
The purpose of the evaluation of the Checks health target was to provide robust evidence to inform future approaches to assessing and managing CVD and diabetes risk; and to inform planning and implementation of other health targets and performance incentive systems more generally.
The evaluation provides a summative assessment covering three components:
- A Process evaluation to demonstrate how and why the Checks target implementation produced the results it did.
- An Outcome evaluation to examine the impact of the Checks target on health outcomes and its effectiveness at refocusing the sector on CVD risk management.
- An Economic evaluation to determine if health system resources have been allocated efficiently.