It wasn’t long ago that many healthcare providers and payers were skeptical of value-based payment models for care and saw more roadblocks than paths forward.
Now, that has changed according to a survey released by DataGen, a healthcare analytics and policy company based in New York state. The company asked more than 100 healthcare executives questions regarding remaining hurdles and how they are planning for and dealing with challenges around value-based payment models.
The results showed that on average, 25% of a healthcare organization’s revenue is tied to value-based payments, with the percentage correlating to the number of beds in a facility. The more beds they had, the more risk they incurred from value-based payments.
A Closer Look at Results
The survey indicated that around two-thirds of healthcare organizations are involved in or are entering into value-based programs in the next two years. Around half of the executives surveyed say that value-based arrangements will become the norm over the next five years. It is worth noting, however, that the survey was conducted prior to the coronavirus pandemic. Views may have changed as pressures from the government and market may shift things.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that value-based payment structures are going anywhere. Around 69% of those surveyed said that it had resulted in improvements in the quality of care being delivered. This is something that may become an even bigger priority as healthcare attempts to grapple with the current crisis while simultaneously providing traditional care.
The problem for the industry is that only around 45% of executives say that value-based arrangements has improved their financial outlook. As costs soar, this needs to become more commonplace for value-based arrangements to become the norm.
Getting Over the Bottom Line
The biggest hurdle many still face in the adoption of value-based care is the effect on the bottom line. Most, at the time of the survey, said that their number one priority in the coming year was to streamline their cost and efficiency efforts. Managing public health, was not a popular priority at the time and for many the move to value-based arrangements and patient safety was not a big issue either.
However, the current situation surrounding the coronavirus is likely to change that outlook, with public health and patient safety becoming the biggest priorities. Where value-based reimbursements fit in to this equation remains to be seen, but anything that helps providers deliver more effective care in increasingly efficient ways that are focused on outcomes is likely to be welcome.
The bottom line, however, is likely to suffer as costs are set to skyrocket.
Investing in New Technology
Interest in predictive analytics is at an all time high among executives, many of whom will be turning to those projections as they look to assess patient and organizational risk before another wave of COVID-19 cases following a dip in the summer.
Around 60% of those surveyed say they intend to invest in new technology in the near future, with reporting dashboards, workflow and decision support technology among the top priorities. Those are likely to remain priorities in the coming weeks and months as care teams turn to technology solutions to streamline their activities.
Of all new technologies, however, condition and case management technology took the top spot then with 33% of executives saying they’d invest in it when the survey was conducted in September of last year. Given the complexity of the current situation and the volume of patients being seen, that is likely to still be a priority, meaning the healthcare IT workforce will have to intensify its efforts meet the needs of these organizations.
