The Payment Reform Landscape: Tying It All Together

Throughout 2014, Health Affairs Blog has been generous in allowing us to share our insights and opinions on a monthly basis as we examine the evidence for different payment reform models. Along this journey, we’ve taken an in-depth look at how well different payment models are proving to enhance the quality and affordability of care. We’ve taken a few detours to explore some of the building blocks of a higher-value health care system, like price transparency. And we took some time to share findings from our 2014 National Scorecard on Payment Reform, which revealed the commercial sector is moving toward more value oriented payment. So with 2015 almost upon us, what did we learn from all this exploration? And based on our learnings, what are the logical next steps for our work at Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR), and for health care leaders’ efforts as they think about moving the needle on payment reform? Lesson 1: Not all payment models are created equal. Pay for performance has shown to improve quality in some cases, but has not proven it can substantially contain costs. Likewise, the “payment for non-visit functions” approach (such as a care coordination fee paid to a provider serving as a patient centered medical home) is also proving to enhance the quality of care, but not necessarily to rein in costs. On the flip side, models that pose potential downside financial risk for providers may prove to reduce costs and improve quality with greater success. For example...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: All Categories Consumers Health Care Costs Payment Policy Quality Spending Source Type: blogs