Goals Set for Medicare to Pay Providers Based on Quality Rather Than Volume

By the end of 2016, 30% of the payments that Medicare makes to physicians and hospitals should be based on the value, rather than the quantity, of the services provided, and by the end of 2018, the proportion should increase to 50%, the Department of Health and Human Services announced.

Currently, value-based payments — made through alternative models such as Accountable Care Organizations and primary care medical homes — account for just 20% of Medicare payments.

“Whether you are a patient, a provider, a business, a health plan, or a taxpayer, it is in our common interest to build a health care system that delivers better care, spends health care dollars more wisely and results in healthier people,” HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell said on Monday. “Today’s announcement is about improving the quality of care we receive when we are sick, while at the same time spending our health care dollars more wisely.”