Medssenger Team
Of the many factors driving transformation across the healthcare industry today, which is most important? It is inarguably the move to value-based care, i.e. paying based on outcomes for patients. Healthcare leaders believe value-based care will be the most transformative force in the industry over the next decade, disrupting the industry more than scientific innovation. They expect that the majority of U.S. healthcare payments will be driven by value-based care by 2020.
The shift from fee-for-service to value-based payment models by early adopters has shown substantial benefits: For instance, Oregon began a pilot in 2013 for value-based reimbursement model for community health centers, and a 2016 study showed that saved the Oregon health system $240 million over two years. In a study that analyzed 30-day readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure and pneumonia, hospital participation in voluntary value-based reforms such as Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records program, the ACO programs, and the Bundled Payment for Care Initiative led to 2,377 fewer readmissions in 2015.
In a value-based care system, since providers are responsible for patient outcomes, it is fundamental that they coordinate and communicate with both patients and other members of each patient’s care team to monitor whether the patient is getting proper follow-up care, being seen by other providers, taking the prescribed medications, and making good progress.
However, the majority of providers do not believe they have the tools to succeed in value-based model: 70% of providers feel that EHR systems have not improved patient outcomes due to limitations in quality and performance data for individual patients. Dr. Vindell Washington and Andy Slavitt, respective heads of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and of CMS, consider the industry in need of “21st century information technology to support a modern, value-based healthcare system.”
With the currently existing systems, care coordination and communication have been inefficient, leading to significant, negative consequences for both patients and providers. For instance, upon hospital discharge, 1 in 3 patients have at least one medication discrepancy and 1 in 5 patients experience an adverse event within three weeks. Readmission costs healthcare industry $30 billion to $40 billion annually and post-acute care costs more than $100 billion each year.
85% of health plan executives believe that an investment in health IT system by both providers and payers would drive better adoption of value-based purchasing. What truly enables a successful value-based model is efficient coordination and communication among patients and across all their care team members. The right system streamlines care delivery and follow-thru while capturing the data needed for measuring and improving outcomes.
That’s what Medssenger does. Medssenger provides seamless care anywhere anytime — connecting everyone involved through effective coordination, efficient communication, and shared access to real-time data. Medssenger is that 21st century infrastructure critical to value-based care.