Dive Brief:
- President Obama's new effort to drive value-based payment models, the Healthcare Payment Learning and Action Network, will rely heavily on improved health IT and interoperability, according to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and National Coordinator for Health IT Karen DeSalvo.
- The network, which includes 2,800 participants, is designed to support providers' transition to value-based payment. HHS has announced that it will tie 30% of Medicare payments to value-based models by 2016 and 50% by 2018.
- Burwell said at the launch event that one of the initiative's goals was to make electronic health data available to more consumers and providers. Meanwhile, DeSalvo noted that improved interoperability would also be a key part of the White House effort.
Dive Insight:
There's little question that better health IT implementation and interoperability will be necessary to manage value-based compensation models. It also stands to reason that at least some consumers will do a better job managing their health if they have more access to care data.
However, it's not clear whether the healthcare industry is in a position to accomplish what HHS wants. With many providers still struggling to make good use of EMRs—and to pay for what can be incredibly costly technology—HHS seems to be banking on changes that call for resources that few providers can summon.
Certainly, HHS' plans to move Medicare payments to value-based payments will push providers to speed up their health IT development. But it seems unlikely that many will be able to do it on HHS' schedule.