Value-based care is a way to overhaul the broken US healthcare system. The goal is to shift the focus of the healthcare industry from volume to value and make it more sustainable and effective. Here’s why value-based care is the way to go.
What is Value-Based Health Care?
Value-based care aims to prioritize the quality of healthcare above all else. This includes focusing on preventive measures, increasing access to care, and paying for performance rather than the traditional fee-for-service model. Not only does this concept have the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery and improve overall health and well-being, but also saves huge amounts of money. Research has proven that value-based care can reduce medical spending significantly while at the same time improving patient outcomes.
The future of value-based care appears to be a bright one, with many stakeholders investing in its success by offering incentives such as monetary rewards and public recognition for quality providers.
Entrenched Powers Always Resist Reform
But anytime there is a challenge to a select few making a lot of money, particularly with near-monopoly power there will be extreme resistance.
Lobbyists and special interests will certainly fight against value-based care, as the shift away from a traditional fee-for-service model carries a large potential to reduce their profits. The pharmaceutical industry, for example, has long been accused of profiting off high drug prices due to its ability to create monopolies. This same industry stands to lose a large chunk of its revenue if value-based care is implemented on a wide scale.
Keep in mind the big players in health care make money when you are sick, not healthy. So the challenge is to find ways to reward health rather than treatment.
If Promoted, Value-Based Care would Improve Patient Outcomes
Access to quality healthcare can be the difference between life and death. Providing a high standard of care can have an incredibly positive effect on patient outcomes, reducing medical errors, infectious disease spread, and hospital readmissions.
When quality care is provided in acute and long-term patient settings, individuals are more likely to receive prompt treatment for health issues and reach a full recovery. Patients who receive quality care have access to better educational materials about their condition and support from healthcare professionals who are fully trained and certified within the particular field. This ensures that patients understand their condition fully and can actively engage in their treatment plans. As a result, this type of care can help reduce the risk of complications from medical issues or even eliminate them.
Quality care provides the necessary resources and support required to ensure periodical follow-ups are completed or medications managed appropriately which further helps prevent harsher health problems. By improving patient outcomes through superior quality standards, those receiving this form of healthcare will benefit greatly now and in the future.
Value-Based Care Improves Health
Recent studies have provided compelling evidence to indicate the effectiveness of value-based care. In particular, results from several health systems have demonstrated that this model of care can significantly improve patient outcomes while reducing costs and managing chronic conditions more efficiently.
– A 2016 survey conducted in Florida revealed that Medicare and Medicaid patients who received value-based care were 37% less likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days than those served by traditional fee-for-service arrangements.
– Another study tracked 13 community health centers that adopted value-based primary care and found cost savings of over $1 million a year due to fewer emergency room visits, infections controlled more swiftly, and better chronic condition management.
With such promising results, it is no wonder why value-based care has become increasingly popular as an alternative healthcare delivery system.
And keeping people healthy, happy and productive is great, but healthcare focused on healthy people would save millions of dollars each year.
Value-Based Care Saves Money
Value-based care is proving to be an effective way for medical providers to keep costs down. By harnessing technology, healthcare providers can better track and measure patient outcomes, allowing them to make informed decisions that not only keep their costs low but also ensure high-quality care for their patients.
Value-based care allows providers to proactively address disease management, preventing minor ailments from developing into more serious conditions that require costly treatment.
Value-based care has the potential to save money in the long run by preventing unnecessary interventions and providing highly targeted treatments tailored to individual patient needs.
Its time for a shift in focus from quantity to quality in healthcare
Our healthcare system is in dire need of an overhaul.
A shift in focus from quantity to quality could potentially save countless lives and resources, now and in the future.
With advancements in medical technology, we have an opportunity to provide more efficient, cost-effective treatments that focus on not only improved physical outcomes but also improved mental health.
By investing more resources into quality-driven approaches, we can make progress towards providing meaningful care to some of the most vulnerable members of society. Not to mention it would save the government millions of dollars, which could lower our taxes.
By making people healthier, and saving millions upon millions of dollars, value-based care has the potential to revolutionize not just healthcare but America as we know it.
