Making The Case for Value-Based Care: BCBS Execs Speak Out

Dr. James Grant, SVP and Chief Medical Officer of Blue Cross Blue of Shield Michigan, and Todd Van Tol, EVP for Healthcare Value, recently penned an article for Crain’s Detroit Business championing more aggressive shifts towards value-based payment models. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan maintains that the healthcare affordability crisis in the U.S. can only be solved by aligning the quality/cost equation – the basic foundation of value-based care and the path towards sustainability.

Fee-for-Service vs VBC

The current fee-for-service payment system is expensive, outdated, and non-quality-centric. Its lack of long-term viability was especially highlighted by the pandemic. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan executives maintain that continuing to pay per service unit, rather than patient outcomes, does not serve patients, providers, or our healthcare system as a whole.

 The evolution from fee-for-service to value-based payment models has continued to gain strong momentum. Why? Value-based care works. It’s time to push harder to close the gaps in our current payment model. Enlace works with some of the largest payers in the country, helping these leading organizations recognize the benefits of connected healthcare:

• Deliver better quality care at a lower cost
• Reduce complications, readmissions, and adverse events through actionable insights
• Shift the power of care delivery back into the hands of physicians
• Unlock the unrealized power of data and technology 
• Gain real-time insights needed to deploy prospective value-based episodes of care
• Drive the overall improvement of the patient experience and their health outcomes 

BCBSM recently rolled out BluePrint for Affordability, where its payees (providers) share accountability for care cost and quality. This organization and other enlightened payers are rising above the status quo by rallying around the value-based care cause. 

Achieving Financial Stability in Healthcare

Enlace has been at the forefront of fixing unsustainable healthcare. Its end-to-end, connected ecosystem is bridging the gap for payers and providers, so they can move toward delivering quality-driven care, and in the process, generate a reliable income stream to help them successfully manage the health of their patient population over time.

As more organizations like BCBSM seek change, more areas of healthcare will finally evolve to the sustainable world that Enlace has defined. Bridging the gap between the current, chaotic system and what’s now proven possible empowers patients, providers, and payers alike.

References

Blue Cross execs: Pandemic proved fee-for-service health care payment model is broken. Here’s how to fix it.