As value-based care becomes commonplace throughout the U.S. healthcare system, physicians and practices are learning how to lean into the trend.
Here are seven practices and physicians leaning into value-based care in 2024:
1. Sterling Elliott, PharmD, assistant professor for orthopedic surgery and clinical pharmacist lead at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, told Becker's that he is focused on value-based care this year. "I'm looking at ways to optimize value with the prospect that value-based care is the emerging direction in the American healthcare landscape," Dr. Elliott told Becker's. "Revenues are critical to the financial wellbeing of the business model, and when change steamrolls through, adaptation will reign supreme. Change is scary and uncomfortable, but finding ways to capitalize can have widespread benefit. In the end, finding innovative approaches to patient care services sets us up to provide high quality patient care and safeguard the stability of our economic landscape."
2. New York City-based Hospital for Special Surgery announced a collaboration with Best in Class MD to launch a bundled surgery program for orthopedics. The Best in Class MD value-based surgical bundle program is designed to serve as an intermediary to worker's compensation carriers nationwide.
3. The ambulatory growth of Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, parent company of ASC giant United Surgical Partners International, sees a benefit in value-based care's expansion. "We see a tremendous opportunity with our ambulatory platform," CEO Saum Sutaria, MD, said, speaking May 14 at the Bank of America Securities 2024 Health Care Conference. "We're in this unique space of innovation and ambulatory care growth, which creates a significant amount of value and savings for the system, but it's also unique in the sense that it's value-based care that actually creates value for shareholders."
4. Philip Louie, MD, a spine surgeon at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health in Tacoma, Wash., is setting his sights on value-based care. "I still believe in the overarching goal of value-based care in which we aim to align our interests (the healthcare providers) with the health and wellness of the patients. While there are challenges in implementing this model, including the need for significant infrastructure and data capabilities, the potential benefits of ensuring that patients get the right care at the right time in a sustainable fashion keeps us pushing forward," he told Becker's.
5. Independence Blue Cross and Philadelphia-based Rothman Orthopaedic Institute recently extended their value-based care agreement for three more years. The two organizations have had their value-based agreement since 2018.
6. Charles Davis, managing partner at MD Healthcare Partners, told Becker's how Orthopaedic Solutions Management (OSM), a physician-led musculoskeletal services platform, is leaning into value-based care. "In the simplest form, musculoskeletal care has proven to be one of the most successful specialties in value-based models, primarily driven by site-of-service differential and higher utilization of conservative treatment options like physical therapy. OSM has been at the forefront of this in Florida and has value-based contracts with most payers. This opportunity continues to expand for orthopedic surgeons, as they now have the ability to perform higher-acuity procedures like total joint replacements in ASCs," Mr. Davis said.
7. In 2023, OptumHealth saw 900,000 more patients under value-based care, according to a Jan. 12 call with investors transcribed by Seeking Alpha. "Value-based care for us is a proven way of overcoming many of the widely recognized shortcomings of a fee-for-service-based health system such as fragmented consumer experiences and incentives, that can emphasize volume over quality," UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said on the earnings call. By the end of 2024, Optum Health aims to serve at least another 750,000.