Hart Academie: Sustainable Financing for Newcomers
The shortage of healthcare personnel is a growing societal issue, particularly for cardiac patients. The demand for healthcare services is increasing, driven by improved treatments that extend patients’ lifespan, resulting in a growing number of chronic patients. Echocardiography is crucial for diagnostics, but the national shortage of echocardiographers has led to waiting lists.
The Hart Academie within Cardiologie Centra Nederland (CCN) offers a training program for echocardiographers to newcomers with a medical background. This initiative creates both societal and financial value in various ways. On one hand, it removes barriers for highly educated newcomers to enter the healthcare workforce at a professional level. On the other hand, it addresses the waiting lists in this healthcare domain. The costs of training for this new target group are higher than for regular training programs. The ultimate value created primarily benefits stakeholders such as healthcare institutions, health insurers, municipalities, and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment.
The Request of CCN and the Goldschmeding Foundation
Currently, the Hart Academie for newcomers at CCN is partially funded by the Goldschmeding Foundation. The goal is to develop a sustainable and scalable financing model for the academy that is not reliant on subsidies or philanthropy. This requires collaboration with relevant societal stakeholders. CCN and the Goldschmeding Foundation have engaged Social Finance NL to develop a business case that incorporates the societal value of the academy and encourages stakeholders to contribute to its funding.
The SFNL Approach
To develop a sustainable financing model, we distilled the societal impact of the Hart Academie by establishing a theory of change. Additionally, we conducted interviews with stakeholders, such as hospitals, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment (SZW), the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS), the UAF, and the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZa). Based on these interviews, desk research, and available data, we quantified the societal impact and integrated it into the business case. This societal business case will serve as the foundation for the sustainable financing model.
Result
The result of the impact analysis is clear: the Hart Academie generates positive societal outcomes by contributing to the better integration of newcomers and enabling them to apply their skills in the healthcare sector. This helps reach a broader group of competent workers with a healthcare background to meet the increasing demand for cardiac care in the Netherlands.
However, the inclusive employer—the healthcare provider—bears the highest investment burden, while the benefits are reaped elsewhere. A fairer distribution of benefits would create a stronger case for the inclusive employer. To sustain the Hart Academie and further scale up its training program to additional hospitals, healthcare providers, and other specialties, joint investment is necessary to make training newcomers for healthcare providers financially viable.
The results from the impact analysis have been visualized in an infographic. We believe the Hart Academie can serve as an example for other organizations and societal stakeholders. Addressing staff shortages in healthcare and enhancing opportunities for newcomers in the job market can go hand in hand.
| Project | Sustainable Financing Hart Academie |
|---|---|
| Year | 2023-2024 |
| Type | Advisory, Research |
| Parties | Goldschmeding Foundation Cardiologie Centra Nederland (CCN) Open Embassy |
| Location | The Netherlands |
