A new study by the ORC International, commissioned by Change Healthcare, has found that while value-based care strategies have trimmed unnecessary medical costs, payers are having some difficulty in the new environment.
The report, titled “Finding the Value: The State of Value-Based Reimbursement in 2018,” follows prior studies published in 2014-16, according to a Journal of Clinical Pathways article.
The latest study surveyed 120 payers to create a baseline for the health care sector’s shift toward value-based care.
Payers, according to the study, posted relatively low numbers on episode of care development. Only 21 percent of those surveyed said they were able to deliver a new episode of care program in six months or less.
However, 80 percent of the payers surveyed reported improvements in quality of care. Sixty-four percent said relationships with providers had improved; 73 percent said patient engagement had posted marked improvements.
“Payers are finding the positive impact of value-based care as they scale these models — particularly episodes of care — and that’s starting to bend the cost curve in a significant way,” Change Healthcare Senior Vice President and General Manager of Network and Financial Management Carolyn Wukitch said. “However, the demand to innovate at the pace of change is challenging payers. They lack satisfactory analytics and automation to better engage providers, operationalize their models, and assess effectiveness overall.”
Click here to read the full article on the Journal of Clinical Pathways.
