The increased adoption of virtual care technologies is accelerating value-based care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a sense of urgency around numerous healthcare-related issues and opportunities that were already on the radar but were awaiting large-scale implementation. The foremost objective of providers and healthcare systems today remains to keep people out of hospitals and crowded offices of the physicians and deliver care virtually instead. Hence, the care delivery model has witnessed a paradigm shift towards value-based care, changing both patient and provider behavior out of necessity. With the increased adoption of virtual care technologies and interoperable data platforms, our healthcare system is accelerating towards value-based care. We have seen a surge in the adoption of telemedicine, and this is likely to continue even post-pandemic.

Healthcare Cost Efficiencies

Healthcare costs continue to increase across the globe. Even before the coronavirus pandemic, around $1 trillion was spent every year in the U.S. on non-value adding aspects in the healthcare system, which accounted for 25 percent of total healthcare spending[1]. This is categorized as waste; imagine diverting these resources towards activities that can enhance patient outcomes.

Moreover, since the onset of the pandemic, patients have been delaying and foregoing care. Many patients with chronic conditions have stayed home, and deferred care, which means their diseases have progressed without monitoring. This means that when these patients finally seek care, there would be more severity, which will eventually lead to higher costs of care.

Value-based care models have been developed to address these challenges. Under these models, the providers are reimbursed based on the pre-defined quality metrics as compared to the conventional method of quantity/volume of services delivered. This, then, has paved the path for patient-centric care delivery and payment models that focus on eliminating fragmentation and discontinuity. At the same time, they incentivize seamless and integrated care throughout the patient journey. With particular emphasis on cost reduction and improved health outcomes, care delivery has radically transformed with value-based care.

Coordinated Care Delivery

Virtual care also allows for more collaboration amongst and between the patients and the providers. This is what value-based care is all about. It focuses on delivering quality care to one patient, as compared to concentrating on all the care rendered by one provider (as in the case of the traditional fee-for-service model).

Read More: See and Treat Patients Remotely with Telemedicine

Hence, value-based care models are better equipped to survive the COVID-19 crisis. Practices deploying these models can respond more quickly and efficiently to patient needs through coordinated care, patient tracking, and telemedicine. Capitalizing upon the importance of population data in improving patient care, value-based models allow delivering robust care coordination while also creating more predictable revenue flows.

The Impact of Telehealth

The rise and proliferation of telehealth is one of the most prominent impacts of COVID-19 on value-based care. The fast-paced adoption of telemedicine is, in part, due to CMS’s decision to allow Medicare to include some types of telehealth visits in its reimbursement provisions, matching them with pay scales of in-person visits. And these relaxations are expected to continue beyond the pandemic. Hence, value-based care is also likely to stay post-crisis.

Numerous surveys depict a higher satisfaction level amongst the patients using telehealth. Similarly, the providers are encouraged to conduct telehealth for activities that add value, because that is what they will eventually be paid for. Interestingly, practices will incur financial penalties if telehealth only leads to more visits but no improved outcomes.

Related Read: Five Reasons Why You Should Embrace Telemedicine At Your Practice

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten lives across the globe, the economic consequences are colossal. Changes in care delivery wrought by the pandemic have triggered rethinking spending priorities while delivering high-value services. Eventually, value-based care models have evolved as the new normal precipitated by the coronavirus disease, creating rare opportunities to enhance the efficiency of care delivery while curbing medical expenditures simultaneously.

[1] https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2752664