Provider Service Volume is No Longer King

By: Valerie Shahriari

As the shift from fee for service to value based payment develops, one thing is crystal clear:  volume is no longer king.  Prior to 2010, medical providers were being paid on the amount of services that they rendered. The more patients that they treated, the more money they made. That certainty has disappeared with value based compensation and outcomes are now driving the compensation.  To be successful, a provider must learn to bend both the quality and cost curve.  In short, providers must increase quality while decreasing costs.

When contemplating negotiating or entering into a value based contract, the first thing to consider is the amount of financial risk that your practice or healthcare business can take on.  The four main types of financial payments are:

Payment Structures

The best way to determine which payment model best suits your needs is to hire a qualified financial healthcare analyst who will be able to generate financial risk modeling.  A provider will then have a common starting point to negotiate as well as a better understanding of the issues, risks, and potential cost savings involved. Continue reading

Value Based Payments for Physicians

A3124Color300By: Valerie Shahriari

H.R.2 – Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 was passed by the House on March 26, 2015 and the Senate on April 14, 2015.  While the title of the law indicates one of the topics of the bill (removing the sustainable growth rate (SGR) methodology from the determination of annual conversion factors in the formula for payment for physician services), the title is not representative of a major change that could affect all physicians.  Under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to consolidate components of the three specified existing performance incentive programs into a new Merit-based Incentive Payment (MIP) system under which physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified registered nurse anesthetists, would receive annual payment increases or decreases based upon their performance as measured by standards the Secretary shall establish according to specified criteria. Continue reading