Three tips to help providers transition to value-based care

Dr. Amy Nguyen Howell is the chief of the office for provider advancement and senior national medical director at Optum. In this role, she leads the advancement of clinical priorities around culture, experience, health equity, physician partnership, provider development, and leadership and research in pursuit of the Quadruple Aim.

Nguyen brings great passion to this pursuit. With her experience leading value-based care initiatives, she shares her top three best practices leaders must consider when supporting providers in their transition to value:

1. Align your message around why the transition to value-based care is critical. We have been talking value-based care for decades, and there are pockets of providers succeeding in value-based models, but depending on where you sit in the country, others are getting left behind. We have to better communicate the “why?” to providers so we can help them get more comfortable with new reimbursement and clinical models. They need the full picture as to why the transition to value is incumbent upon us as Americans, not just as providers. If we are truly going to get healthcare costs under control, we need to do our part to transition as quickly as we can. By helping physicians and clinicians better understand, they see the urgency of the “why.” In turn, they could thrive in value-based care models and experience a better financial outlook professionally and personally.

2. Get rowing in the same direction with evidence-based education. Providers love to learn and are accustomed to receiving evidence-based information. It is important to arm yourself with the right data and success stories to help them understand the benefits of value. Also, with the right people communicating these messages, such as other champion clinicians with experience in value-based care, you can effectively teach the tenets of high-value care and the Quadruple Aim.

3. Understand the nuances of your culture to unite your team. It is the people who make or break any organization. Make the investment in your people and teams so they can embody the Quadruple Aim mission and vision. Ensure they are not focused on just the end game, but all the in-between necessary to get you to the end state. Today, it could be said that we are a polarized country, yet this is one topic we all can agree on: healthcare is unsustainable in its current state. I genuinely believe we can unite as Americans and get on the same page. We are in different learning stages, and if we bridge that gap with more outreach and better messaging, we can move the needle closer to value-based care.

Discover how Optum Network can ease your transition to value-based care.

About the author


Dr. Amy Nguyen Howell is the chief of the office for provider advancement, senior national medical director at Optum. She leads the advancement of clinical priorities around culture, experience, health equity, physician partnership, provider development and leadership and research in pursuit of the Quadruple Aim.

Dr. Nguyen is a practicing family physician and associate adjunct professor at the University of Southern California in the Sol Price School of Public Policy, teaching quality of care for the Master’s in Health Administration program.

Sponsored by


Optum Health is dedicated to bringing all parts of the healthcare system together to make simpler, more effective and more affordable care available to everyone, when, where and how they need it.