Dynamic Debate: Health Affairs Forum Begins Value-Based Payment Discussion

“Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” You can bet that Mark Twain wasn’t thinking about reforming health care payment systems when he spoke these words more than a century ago, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t relevant to the issue. In fact, “continuous improvement” was the overarching theme at a recent Health Affairs Forum entitled “Envisioning the Future of Value Based Payment.” Several recent laws have strengthened Medicare’s incentives for quality improvement and accountability, including MACRA, the Affordable Care Act, the IMPACT Act, and the HITECH Act. Congress passed these laws for the right reasons, and many stakeholders believe they have had a positive effect. But it is time to reassess the programs included in these laws, such as the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program and the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, so we can be assured that they continue to promote better health care delivery. Last month’s Health Affairs forum, cosponsored by The Federation of American Hospitals, brought together a broad range of experts to do just that. During the event, participants examined existing and developing Medicare value-based payment programs for hospitals and physicians and discussed how such programs should evolve in a future with seamless integration of electronic health records, big data analytics, and personalized medicine. Keynote speaker David Blumenthal, President of The Commonwealth Fund, set the tone ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Featured Hospitals Insurance and Coverage Medicare Payment Policy Quality Health Affairs Event Hospital Readmission Reductions Program Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program quality measurements value-based Source Type: blogs