….by Isobel Charle, Washington News Service
Adopting alternative payment models for people receiving primary care through Medicare is better for providers and patients, according to a new report from the nonprofit think tank Bipartisan Policy Center.
The report showed the current payment system rewards providers for volume of service rather than quality of care, encouraging costly tests and procedures regardless of outcomes.
Kendall Strong, senior policy analyst at the center and co-author of the report, said alternative payment models, also known as value-based payment models, would reimburse providers for a broader range of services.
“Obviously, including meeting with patients but also for primary care clinicians, coordinating care, submitting referrals,” Strong outlined. “Making sure their patient can get wraparound care to really help with all their care.”
Washington, with about 1.5 million people on Medicare, is already in the process of shifting toward alternative payment models. Strong argued the state’s approach serves as a model for others to do the same, and can provide insights into how to scale local systems up to a federal level.
The report highlighted the need to reform Medicare’s payment system in order to promote preventive care and reduce costs for patients. Strong added by streamlining paperwork and other administrative tasks, alternative payment models make provider’s work easier and Medicare as a whole more efficient.
“What we’re trying to do is give clinicians the flexibility to provide care to their patients in a way that doesn’t require them to constantly report what they’re doing and be reimbursed for that, but really reduces the burden,” Strong explained.
The report contended now is an ideal time to expand alternative payment models nationally, citing the expiration of a key Medicare provision and the administration’s stated focus on reducing chronic disease. Medicare supports health care for 65 million Americans, most of whom are seniors and people with disabilities.
