White House kicks off network to spur value-based health care payment

At a White House event with President Obama, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell today kicked off the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, a forum for public-private partnerships to advance health care payment models that promote quality and value. AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack, who attended the event, said in a statement, “The nation’s hospitals and health systems have been leaders in implementing innovative delivery and payment system transformation models – both public and private – designed to provide more effective and efficient care. At the heart of hospitals’ work is the desire to improve care for each and every patient. Given the diversity of our nation, hospitals and physicians are at different points in the journey from volume to value based on the needs of their communities and their capabilities. Accountable care organizations, bundled payment models, medical homes and other models could hold great promise for moving us down the pathway to more coordinated care but structural changes – such as knocking down barriers that impede hospitals and physicians from working more closely – are needed. We look forward to joining with HHS to learn what works best and to make these models even more attractive to hospitals, health systems, physicians and other providers of care for the benefit of patients and communities.”