Dive Brief:
- The value-based payment model that will be the basis for 50% of Medicare reimbursement by 2018 now has a matching White House public-private program designed to blaze the trail, according to an announcement made by President Obama at the White House yesterday.
- Called the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, the program's goal is to speed the transition to value-based payments. 2,800 payers, providers, employers, patients, states, consumer groups and other partners have agreed to participate in the network.
- "We don't need to reinvent the wheel—you're already figuring what we need to do to reduce infections in hospitals or help patients with complicated needs," President Obama said. "What we have to do is share these best practices, these new ideas, including new ways to pay for care so that we're rewarding quality."
Dive Insight:
When the HHS announced its plan to make 50% of all Medicare reimbursables value-based by 2018, the response was mixed, with a large chorus echoing the sentiment that the roadmap to that goal was more than a bit vague.
This program with a mouthful of a name may solve the vagueness problem—if it doesn't become just another alphabet soup organization. The AHA likes it, and it has broad support with healthcare industry insiders. There is no guarantee that it will succeed, but it has the weight of the White House behind it, which still carries a lot of weight even outside the Beltway hothouse.