Examining the Challenges in Implementing Value-Based Care at Academic Medical Centers

A new report in Health Affairs Scholars looks into the challenges that academic health centers (AMCs) face in implementing value-based care models. AMCs provide care that exceeds that of non-AMCs, but features that help them excel may hinder value-based payment models. Key challenges they encounter are rigidity of workflows and the financial agreements they have with practitioners.

According to the authors, “In fact, the disappointing speed of the transition from “volume to value” in the U.S. healthcare system is partly due to many AMCs having the market power to resist value-based care payment models proffered by health plans. To change, AMCs will need to be convinced that new payment models either pose an existential threat or are more profitable than the FFS status quo. It is our belief that new payment models, enabled in part by new technologies, are on the cusp of taking over larger roles in the payment landscape. Over time, such models will threaten the primacy of AMCs, as primary care providers operating within value-based compensation frameworks will increasingly seek out non-AMC specialists and hospitals who can demonstrate their ability to provide high-quality care at a lower cost. When that happens, the system will then redistribute substantial portions of the savings derived from lower utilization of AMCs to payors, risk-bearing providers, and patients.”

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(Source: Health Affairs Scholar, June 20^th, 2023)