The healthcare system is run like a business at this point. The fee-for-service model is ever-present in every medical institution. But is that really beneficial for the patient? No, it’s not. Instead, the Value-Base Care (VBC) system has a patient-centric approach. It also helps doctors who no longer have to care about the business aspects of their practice. Let’s see what VBC is and how it could help the medical industry!
What Is VBC?
Value-Base Care is a healthcare model that rewards physicians not based on the cost of the treatments and medication they recommend but rather on the health outcomes of their patients. This means that doctors will care about the quality of the care they provide and not the quantity. The compensation for doctors would be based on factors such as:
- The frequency of patient visits
- The number of tests completed
- The specialists a patient will see
- Preventing hospitalizations and illnesses
- Good clinical patient outcomes
Physicians would collaborate with clinical and non-clinical specialists and use resources to spend more time on providing quality care. The quality and the continuity of care would be more important than the volume of the care services provided.
This would not only benefit patients by making healthcare services more affordable and quality-oriented but it would also tackle the physician burnout phenomenon. The fee-for-service model is needlessly complicated and demanding for many physicians. They payment model is unreliable, disappointing, and inefficient both for patients and doctors.
Value-base programs like Medicaid, Medicare and private employers are available today, though. This provides a different model for doctors to work with. However, there are so many insurance and payor plans, like ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) and PCMH (Patient-Centered Medical Homes), that doctors can’t possibly work efficiently with all of them.
Many physicians might not be aware of the social determinants of health or that there are other healthcare delivery models available. They might not know or like to deprescribe or stratify their patient panels. Training is necessary for these physicians to play a larger role in the new healthcare model.
VBC Education Is Essential
For physicians who have operated in the FFS (fee-for-service) model, shifting to value-base care requires education and a continued learning process. Online courses, live training, and mainstream medical journals need to be made accessible to physicians. VBC is a continually-learning process that keeps on giving benefits to its proponents, so it’s entirely worth it to make these changes.
Learning about the model doesn’t mean you know how to implement it, though. Physicians will need to learn how to do their job using a different healthcare delivery model. Direct Primary Care is a model where the patient pays a subscription to the physician for an insurance-free experience. On another note, full-risk VBC implies that the provider receives upfront payment for keeping the patient healthy.
With a solid education, physicians can choose to proceed with any system, even a hybrid model between FFS and VBC. ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations) are also an option for physicians who can’t afford the needed tools to take care of their patients. There are many solutions that physicians can access to provide VBC, in fact.
Primary Medical Care Center Is a Leader in Value-Base Care
Our clinic is aware of the fact that VBC can best be implemented in primary care. For that reason, our physicians are dedicated to becoming leaders in VBC and taking on a leadership role in the industry. We emphasize the education and guidance of physician not yet familiar with VBC systems and encourage them to adopt it.
For more information, call Primary Medical Care Center at (305) 751-1500 or use our online platform for more information!