This week, HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced a new initiative supported by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to continue to move the Medicare program, and the country's healthcare system at large, toward paying providers based on the quality, rather than the quantity, of care they provide.
A key component of this effort is an advisory group called the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, which is being established to provide a forum for public-private partnerships to help the U.S. healthcare payment system meet or exceed recently established Medicare goals for value-based payments and alternative payment models, according to a news release. In January, HHS released a series of goals for the transition from volume- to value-based payments, including a benchmark for 50 percent of all Medicare provider payments to fall under an alternative payment model by 2018.
The network, which will be supported by an independent contractor that will act as a convener and facilitator, will provide payers, providers, employers, purchasers, states, consumer groups, individual consumers and others with a forum to discuss, track, and share best practices on how to shift toward alternative payment models that emphasize value, according to a news release.
There are already more than 2,800 network registrants. Major health insurers Anthem, Cigna and Humana, have registered to join the advisory group.
In a statement, American Hospital Association Executive Vice President Rick Pollack said the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network will be an important catalyst in advancing delivery system reforms that increase value and efficiencies.
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