Practicing value-based care: What do doctors need?

Transitioning from volume-based to value-based payment and care delivery models in health care has been one of the most important industry-wide efforts over the past few years, but the pace of change has been slow. For instance, in a 2016 survey of executives at provider organizations, 94 percent indicated that they are on the path to value-based care, yet only 27 percent have completed pilots or are at some stage of rollout. These numbers show little change from 2015.¹

What can health care organizations do to stimulate wider adoption of value-based care? They can try to gain a better understanding of physician perspectives: Physicians are obviously affected by industry changes, and they can have great influence on the cost and quality of care.

The Deloitte 2016 Survey of US Physicians, a nationally representative sample of 600 US primary care and specialty physicians, confirms the slow pace of adoption of value-based payment models among physicians: Currently, there is little focus on value in physician compensation, and physicians are generally reluctant to bear financial risk for care delivery. At the same time, however, many physicians conceptually endorse some of the principles behind value-based care, such as quality and resource utilization measurement. The survey results suggest that financial incentives have not changed and tools to support value-based care vary in maturity and availability.

The survey findings suggest that, to stimulate the adoption of value-based care and support physicians in delivering on the “Triple Aim,”² - lower cost, better health, and improved patient experiences - a combination of financial incentives and data-driven tools and capabilities may help. Specifically, organizations could seek to:

• Tie physician compensation to performance
• Equip physicians with the right tools to help them meet performance goals
• Invest in technology capabilities to connect and integrate the tools

Having physicians engaged and involved is critical for value-based care since their decisions impact treatment, costs, and quality. The various stakeholders should consider how they will each play a part in helping physicians transform care delivery. Only when all of the stakeholders are working together to- ward the same goal can the Triple Aim of lower cost, better health, and improved patient experience truly be within reach.

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