Two former U.S. Health and Human Services secretaries in an opinion column published on The Hill discussed some of the obstacles that persist as the health care system continues to shift more focus to value-based care.
“While there are several key reforms that will help us address this challenge, one idea that nearly all health leaders in the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations agree on is that we need to move as quickly as possible from a fee-for-service, volume-based model to a health system that pays for what happens to the patients — the outcome or value of care,” Kathleen Sebelius, the 21st HHS secretary, and Tommy Thompson, the 19th secretary, write.
The former secretaries say the last three administrations have taken steps to move the health care system to a more value-based model, but the “system is not designed to encourage the health care community to work together” to deliver the best possible outcome for the patient.
“And in some instances, it is explicitly designed to prevent collaboration,” they write.
