Study: Alternative Quality Contract Slows Spending, Improves Quality

Seeking to reduce health care spending growth while increasing quality, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts introduced an alternative to fee-for-service reimbursement in 2009. The Alternative Quality Contract, as it’s called, pays providers a global budget for patient care plus bonuses and incentives based on cost-savings and quality performance. In a Commonwealth Fund–supported study (New England Journal of Medicine, Oct. 30, 2014), Zirui Song and colleagues report on the effects of the contract after four years.