Enhanced recovery pathways version 2.0 in thoracic surgery

We need to move from the concept of outcomes to the one of values in healthcare. Value in healthcare is expressed by the equation quality over cost. Quality in lung cancer surgery is represented by longitudinal outcomes such as cancer specific survival and quality of life. When interpreted in this way, costs should not be limited to hospital costs, but include social costs. This should be the benchmark to evaluate our performance, the effectiveness of new technologies or lung cancer treatments, and finally of any process of care aimed at improving patient-centered values. This is what we mean for ERP version 2.