News: New report discusses pros and cons of value-based care
The healthcare industry’s transition to value-based care model has pros and cons, according to a report, “New Marketplace Insights Report: Value-Based Payment Gains Traction Amid Active M&A Environment,” released by NEJM Catalyst
When asked the top advantage of the new model, 54% of respondents said, “payers are insisting on it.” That’s not surprising, according to Laurie Gianturco, MD, vice president and chief medical officer for Health New England. The value-based discussion is a challenging discussion for healthcare organizations, she says in the report. “Hospital systems and providers make money from fee-for-service. That [money is] not guaranteed in value-based care, and it’s going to be a lot of work.”
Physicians need support through the transition, says Gianturco. Providers will have to take risks and implement evidence-based outcomes and quality measures, which they will likely not have a strong background in doing. “In these initial [value-based care] models, there is tremendous burden put on physicians. The models are constantly changing, with no proven value to them yet,” she says.
The survey found physicians questioning the amount of additional work these new models require. The demands of value-based care could not only increase a provider’s patient load, but may make them responsible for wellness issues beyond their usual scope, says Caroline Poplin, MD, JD, FACP, a physician at the Arlington Free Clinic in Virginia, in the report. “Physicians find this approach much harder and less satisfying,” she says.
One survey respondent, a vice president of practice transformation at a midsized health institution in the South, who asked to not be named, says providers take the quality issue very personally, and it’s going to be a struggle for the healthcare industry overall. “[Value-based payments] are going to hurt and are going to be painful, but everyone has to understand that healthcare costs were untenable and something had to change,” she says.