Half of health care systems now accept value-based reimbursements, and that number may go even higher in the next few years, a new survey suggests. MedBen has seen firsthand the potential of alternative payments to benefit self-funded employers and providers alike, and is helping clients realize that potential.
According to Modern Healthcare, 36% of respondents to the KPMG survey said they receive some reimbursement from value-based contracts, while 14% said they get most of their payments that way. Another 26% said they are planning to enter value-based payment arrangements in the next one to three years.
These findings indicate that health care systems are responding to the growing popularity of alternative payment methods in the private and public sectors. Last year, an analysis by the National Business Group on Health revealed that nearly half of self-funded employers have incorporated some type of value-based design in their health care plan. Likewise, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expect that by 2018, half of all provider payments from Medicare will be via “alternative models.”
Through our MedBen Analytics service, which helps hospitals convert raw Medicare data into actionable insights, we’ve seen how value-based payments enable providers to make informed choices necessary to improve services. This arrangement will also benefit self-funded plans, who will realize lower costs than fee-for-service payments without compromising quality of care.
We are rolling out commercial bundled payment services to clients. As health care systems become more comfortable with the value-based model, MedBen expects it to become the norm for employer claim payments.