December 21, 2020
Benefits of Value Based Care and How EHRs Can Help
Today, more and more independent practitioners are laser focused on delivering value-based care (VBC) for their patients. VBC is a delivery model in which health-care professionals (HCPs) are reimbursed not simply for the healthcare services they provide but also for the health outcomes achieved (e.g., smoking cessation, chronic disease prevention, reductions in long-term effects of established chronic disease).1 VBC provides a balance of efficiency and effectiveness in the delivery of medical care.2
VBC offers benefits to five important stakeholders – patients, HCPs, payers, suppliers, and society:3
- For many patients, a value-based focus prevents illnesses and injuries from manifesting into more costly chronic conditions. By increasing access to primary care, a value-based approach supports venerable patient populations, including low-income patients and those who are uninsured or underinsured.4 With increased access to primary care services, chronic conditions – diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, and obesity can be better managed, thereby improving the patients’ health and well-being.5
- For healthcare professionals, better managements of chronic diseases may allow more time to implement new, prevention-based patients services.2 With greater focus on prevention and chronic care management, patient safety, clinical quality, and patient engagement are improved and more value and person-centered care are delivered.
- VBC affords payers an opportunity to control costs and reduce risks by spreading these variables across similar populations.2 Payers can potentially save money when their patient population as a whole is healthier owing to reductions in less predictable, higher cost emergent situations that are preventable with better routine care.
- In addition, healthcare suppliers are beginning to align prices for their products (e.g., prescription medications, medical devices) with positive patient outcomes to help in reducing costs.2
- As patients stay healthy, the entire healthcare ecosystem (society) operates more efficiently, with fewer hospitalizations and medical emergencies.2 As a result, resources can instead go into improving the patient experience through increased staffing, new facilities, advanced technology, and other patient-centric investments.
Practice Fusion has developed clinician-friendly tools within the workflow to help simplify the transition to VBC, helping your practice and your patients. Practice Fusion offers a suite of easy-to-use solutions that can help streamline clinical and financial workflows. Point-of-care resources available from our EHR include electronic prescribing of controlled substances (EPCS), prescription price transparency, electronic prior authorization, and many others. Learn more by contacting us.
References:
- https://edhub.ama-assn.org/steps-forward/module/2702555
- www.aafp.org - about - policies - all - value based payment
- https://catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.17.0558
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29342009/
- https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1011024