NAVIGATING FROM SICKCARE TOWARDS LIFECARE
From Sickcare to Lifecare
Advancing Value-Based Precision Medicine Through Healthspan Science
Transforming Healthcare Beyond Disease Management
Traditional healthcare operates largely in a Sickcare model, responding to illness as it arises. It’s reactive, treating symptoms rather than preventing them. While this approach has delivered significant survival gains, it has also led to extended periods of compromised health—known as “sickspan.” Today, as populations age, society faces increasing challenges in both quality of life and sustainability of healthcare systems.
The Healthy Longevity Challenge, championed by the National Academy of Medicine, redefines success in healthcare: the goal is not just longer lives, but healthier ones. It calls for a transition from purely lifespan extension to maximal healthspan—the years of life lived free from chronic disease and disability.
Precision Health + Value-Based Care = Lifecare at Scale
Precision medicine, with its “n-of-1” approach, tailors interventions based on individual genetics, biomarkers, and lifestyle. But precision alone isn’t sufficient. It must be embedded in Value-Based Healthcare (VBHC)—a model popularized by Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg of Harvard Business School. In VBHC, providers are rewarded based on Value = Outcomes ÷ Cost, shifting incentives toward effective care that delivers high-quality outcomes at sustainable cost.
When precision medicine is integrated into VBHC, we unlock powerful synergies: better diagnostics, personalized treatments, and reduced unwarranted variation—all aligned around patient value. The result? A Lifecare system that is predictive, preventive, personalized, and participatory—moving care beyond hospitals into homes and communities.
The Science of Aging Anchors the Shift
Critical to this transformation is the field of healthy longevity and the Hallmarks of Aging—biological processes like senescence, mitochondrial dysfunction, and epigenetic drift. Interventions targeting these mechanisms can delay or prevent multiple age-related diseases simultaneously.
Foundations such as Hevolution are investing heavily in this science, with up to $1 billion a year in global healthy longevity funding—including major grants to institutions like the Buck Institute—and backing initiatives like the XPRIZE Healthspan competition. Hevolution’s economic modeling demonstrates that a mere one-year increase in healthy lifespan can deliver up to $38 trillion in global productivity and cost savings, or about 4–5% of GDP annually
Building a Healthspan Economy: Lifecare Systems in Action
By integrating precision medicine, outcome-based incentives, and geroscience, nations can construct a Healthspan Economy:
Healthy Longevity Institutions like the Buck Institute partner with funders like Hevolution to translate aging biology into therapies buckinstitute.org.
Silo-free platforms, such as THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB within THE HEALTH CAPTAINS INSTITUTE, provide the infrastructure and leadership needed to implement Lifecare across regions and university medical centers.
One Health–style integration (across islands, regions, and nations) ensures that cutting-edge care reaches diverse populations, closing the gap between lifespan and healthspan globally.
The Public Health and Economic Imperative
Investing in healthspan yields outsized returns. For example, the United States faces annual costs exceeding $300 billion for Alzheimer’s, plus hundreds of billions more for heart disease, diabetes, and other age‑related conditions—while receiving less than 1% of NIH funding for aging researchglobalgovernanceproject.org+1acumenstories.com+1globalgovernanceproject.org+3impact.economist.com+3hevolution.com+3.
Conversely, healthspan improvements reduce disease burden and prolong workforce participation. Modeling shows that even delaying morbidity by just one year can free up trillions in savings and economic growth while easing the burden on healthcare systems and caregivers hevolution.com.
A Call to Leadership and Action
THE HEALTH CAPTAINS INSTITUTE invites healthcare leaders—especially university and academic medical centers throughout Europe and beyond—to take a stand:
Embrace Lifecare: Transition from reactive Sickcare to proactive, value-based, precision-driven Lifecare models.
Anchor Aging Science: Embed geroscience and the Hallmarks of Aging into research, treatment, and education.
Invest in Platforms: Join networks like THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB to scale integrated Lifecare systems across communities.
Partner Globally: Collaborate with pioneering organizations—Buck Institute, Hevolution, XPRIZE—to accelerate innovation and accessibility.
Conclusion: Toward Lifecare and a Healthier Future
The transformation from Sickcare to Lifecare is more than a conceptual shift—it is a societal imperative. By combining precision medicine, value-based incentives, and aging science, we can initiate the next wave of healthcare evolution. The payoff is monumental: improved quality of life, healthier economies, more resilient societies—and a world where every additional year of healthy life counted is both possible and valued.
Join and support us at THE HEALTH CAPTAINS INSTITUTE—and be at the helm of building a global Lifecare system that delivers “Healthspan for All”.
References
Porter, M. E., & Teisberg, E. O. (2006). Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results.Harvard Business School Press.
Hevolution Foundation. (2024). Betting Big on the Future of Aging. https://www.hevolution.com
Global Governance Project. Khan, M. (2024). Catalysing the shift from lifespan to healthspan: transforming public health on a global scale. https://www.globalgovernanceproject.org
The Economist Impact. (2023). Shaping the Future of Healthy Ageing: Reflections from the Global Healthspan Summit. https://impact.economist.com
Buck Institute for Research on Aging. (2023). Buck Institute receives $21 million Hevolution Foundation Grant. https://www.buckinstitute.org
XPRIZE Foundation. (2023). XPRIZE Healthspan Competition. https://www.xprize.org
National Academy of Medicine. (2022). Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity. https://nam.edu
Harvard Business School – Institute for Strategy & Competitiveness. (2023). Value-Based Health Care Key Concepts. https://www.isc.hbs.edu
THE HEALTH CAPTAINS CLUB. (2025). Leadership for Sustainable Value-Based Healthcare and Lifecare Systems. https://www.healthcaptains.club
“WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DON’T KNOW”
EXPLORING THE UNEXPLORED
LEADERSHIP FOR EXPLORING SUSTAINABLE HEALTH
“360º NEXT GENERATION SUSTAINABLE VALUE-BASED LIFECARE POWERED BY NEW INNOVATIONS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES AND THE SUPER-CONVERGENCE IN MEDICINE AND HEALTH SCIENCES NAVIGATING US TOGETHER TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE HEALTH INDUSTRY”