Value-based purchasing (VBP) refers to a broad set of performance-based payment strategies that link financial incentives to health care providers' performance on a set of defined measures in an effort to achieve better value. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is advancing the implementation of VBP across an array of health care settings in the Medicare program in response to requirements in the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and policymakers are grappling with many decisions about how best to design and implement VBP programs so that they are successful in achieving stated goals. This report summarizes the current state of knowledge about VBP programs, focusing on pay-for-performance programs, accountable care organizations, and bundled payment programs. The authors discuss VBP program goals and what constitutes success; the evidence on the impact of these programs; factors that characterize high- and low-performing providers in VBP programs; the measures, incentive structures, and benchmarks used by VBP programs; evidence on spillover effects and unintended consequences; and gaps in the knowledge base. The report concludes with a set of recommendations for the design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of VBP programs and a discussion of HHS's efforts in this regard.

This report was initially published in 2019; this update was published in 2021 and includes clarification on RAND's definition of clean procedures. In July 2019, as part of a contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the RAND Corporation published three complementary reports related to post-operative visits bundled into Medicare payments for many procedures. The reports build on a new CMS requirement that some practitioners report on when bundled post-operative visits occur using a no-pay claim. CMS invited comments on these reports in the calendar year 2020 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule. Although some organizations supported CMS's efforts to collect data on post-operative visits and the related RAND reports, others expressed concerns about CMS's claims-based data collection and the content of the reports. In this follow-up report, RAND researchers respond to those criticisms. The authors remain confident in their main conclusion that fewer post-operative visits were provided than expected, leading to Medicare overpayment for some procedures and underpayment for nonprocedure services, such as office visits. They recommend that CMS consider revaluing procedures with bundled post-operative visits in consideration of the newly available data on the number of post-operative visits actually provided to patients.

Beneficiaries dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid are less likely to receive high-quality care and less likely to be enrolled in plans that perform well in the Medicare Advantage (MA) Star Rating program than those who are not dually enrolled. However, some plans with a high proportion of beneficiaries dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid appear to perform well in the Star Rating program. These findings suggest that some plans have identified effective ways to meet the needs of their dually enrolled beneficiaries. As part of a qualitative study on the types of services MA plans implement and the types of resources they use to meet the needs of dually enrolled and other high-cost, high-need beneficiaries, the authors conducted an environmental scan of the literature and key informant interviews, with the goal of developing a typology of the services that MA plans implement. The findings can be used to develop a series of case studies of high- and low-performing MA plans to further explore this topic.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 addressed the need for access to timely, high-quality health care for veterans. Section 201 of the legislation called for an independent assessment of various aspects of veterans’ health care. The RAND Corporation was tasked with an assessment of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) current and projected health care capabilities and resources. An examination of data from a variety of sources, along with a survey of VA medical facility leaders, revealed the breadth and depth of VA resources and capabilities: fiscal resources, workforce and human resources, physical infrastructure, interorganizational relationships, and information resources. The assessment identified barriers to the effective use of these resources and capabilities. Analysis of data on access to VA care and the quality of that care showed that almost all veterans live within 40 miles of a VA health facility, but fewer have access to VA specialty care. Veterans usually receive care within 14 days of their desired appointment date, but wait times vary considerably across VA facilities. VA has long played a national leadership role in measuring the quality of health care. The assessment showed that VA health care quality was as good or better on most measures compared with other health systems, but quality performance lagged at some VA facilities. VA will require more resources and capabilities to meet a projected increase in veterans’ demand for VA care over the next five years. Options for increasing capacity include accelerated hiring, full nurse practice authority, and expanded use of telehealth.

The Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 addressed the need for access to timely, high-quality health care for veterans. Section 201 of the legislation called for an independent assessment of various aspects of veterans’ health care. The RAND Corporation was tasked with an assessment of the authorities and mechanisms by which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pays for health care services from non-VA providers. Purchased care accounted for 10 percent, or around $5.6 billion, of VA’s health care budget in fiscal year 2014, and the amount of care purchased from outside VA is growing rapidly. VA purchases non-VA care through an array of programs, each with different payment processes and eligibility requirements for veterans and outside providers. A review and analysis of statutes, regulations, legislation, and literature on VA purchased care, along with interviews with expert stakeholders, a survey of VA medical facilities, and an evaluation of local-level policy documents revealed that VA’s purchased care system is complex and decentralized. Inconsistencies in procedures, unclear goals, and a lack of cohesive strategy for purchased care could have ramifications for veterans’ access to care. Adding to the complexity of VA’s purchased care system is a lack of systematic data collection on access to and quality of care provided through VA’s purchased care programs. The analysis also explored concepts of "episodes of care" and their implications for purchased care by the VA.

Poor birth and infant outcomes and pronounced racial disparities persist in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, despite robust maternal and child health and social service systems. The authors use predictive models of which interventions women are likely to participate in, develop a causal inference framework to estimate the effectiveness of those interventions, and reveal how that effectiveness varies for women with different risk and other factors.

Women make up an increasingly large share of the U.S. veteran population, and their numbers continue to grow while the overall number of veterans is on the decline. Yet programs designed to support veterans' health and well-being have largely focused on men. Women's military experiences and postservice needs often differ from those of men, and women veterans also differ in significant ways from their nonveteran counterparts. Few studies have explored these variations, and this has translated to potentially missed opportunities to improve support for women during and after their transition from military to civilian life. Adagio Health, a provider of health, wellness, and nutrition services based in Western Pennsylvania, has taken steps to improve care for women veterans in its service area. To identify opportunities to further expand and enhance Adagio Health's efforts to support women veterans' health and wellness, the authors quantitatively and qualitatively assessed the needs of women veterans in the Adagio Health service area. The assessment provides a clearer picture of this often-underserved population, available services and resources, gaps in support, barriers to access, and areas to prioritize to provide the best support possible for the health and well-being of women who served. With the approaches recommended in this assessment, Adagio Health can continue increasing its capacities and capabilities for supporting its women veteran patients and making progress toward its goal of advancing their health and well-being.

"This report provides information and recommendations regarding the evaluation design of the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) demonstration. Mandated by Congress in Section 223 of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, the CCBHC is a new model of specialty behavioral health clinic, designed to provide comprehensive and integrated care for adults with mental health or substance-use disorders and children with serious emotional distress. Certification criteria for the CCBHCs have been specified by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration covering six core areas: staffing; accessibility; care coordination; scope of services; quality and other reporting; and organizational authority, governance, and accreditation. In addition, services provided to Medicaid enrollees in CCBHCs will be reimbursed through one of two alternative prospective payment systems. At present, 24 states have been awarded grants to begin the planning process for implementing CCBHCs. Of these states, eight will be selected to participate in the demonstration project beginning in January 2017. Results from the evaluation will inform mandated reports to Congress over the two-year demonstration period and the three years following the end of the demonstration, providing information to policymakers on the program's impact and value. In addition, the results can inform the direction of future efforts at integration of behavioral health into the health care system at this critical time of transformation"--Publisher's description.

For many surgeries and procedures, Medicare and most other insurers cover a bundle of services, including post-operative visits, during the global period. As part of 2015 MACRA legislation, Congress mandated that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) collect data on the number and level of post-operative visits delivered in the global period to assess accuracy of payment. Among other efforts, CMS conducted a practitioner survey to assess the level of visits, using three procedures as proof of concept: cataract surgery, hip arthroplasty, and complex wound repair. Using data reported via the survey, the authors found that reported physician time and work for cataract surgery and hip replacement post-operative visits were generally similar-but slightly less-than the levels expected based on the evaluation and management visits assumed to typically occur when valuing these procedures. Reported physician time and work for complex wound repair post-operative visits were higher than Physician Time File levels. Based on experiences with various approaches to collecting data on the level of post-operative visits as well as the status quo, the authors suggest thinking of these data collection methods as a spectrum with both benefits and trade-offs. Given the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches, the authors recommend consideration of a claims-based approach coupled with information about the level of service or the use of G-codes. A survey instrument could serve as a complement to a claims-based approach for procedures or groups of procedures for which valuation is thought to be particularly problematic.

An episode-based framework of health care quality measurement could provide a more complete picture of care than current methods. Existing quality measures could be used, but new ones would need to be developed to fill gaps in the framework.