The Promise and Pitfalls of Bundled Payments
<p>The Obama administration recently announced plans to expand Medicare’s use of bundled payments for health care providers, who receive a lump sum covering all the services associated with an episode of care, such as a hip replacement or cardiac surgery. </p><p>In a new <em>To the Point </em>post, The Commonwealth Fund’s David Blumenthal, M.D., and David Squires explain how this value-based payment model works, its potential advantages over fee-for-service payment, and possible drawbacks. While bundled payment could improve certain types of care coordination, the authors say it could also undermine the success of population-based care models like accountable care organizations. Still, Blumenthal and Squires do see paths forward.</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2016/sep/the-promise-and-pitfalls-of-bundled-payments Read the post