The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 in the U.S. and threatened to shutter medical practices and hospitals, has highlighted like never before the pitfalls of paying for healthcare based on the number of patients seen and services rendered. It simultaneously reinforced the benefits of financing healthcare in a way that’s tied not to volume, but to value.
Joe Damore, Vice President of Strategy, Innovation and Population Health at Premier, described a “rebirth of interest” among primary care physicians and health systems in moving to capitated payments. Damore said that some providers are worried CMS will cut future Medicare payments to make up for funds they’ve given out to shore up healthcare organizations during the pandemic.
