01 Aug The Task Force Releases Building Better Benchmarks: Principles for Sustainable Benchmarking in Value-Based Care
WASHINGTON (August 1, 2023) – The Health Care Transformation Task Force (HCTTF or Task Force) – a group of leading health care payers, providers, purchasers, patient organizations, and value transformation partners – released a new resource titled Building Better Benchmarks: Principles for Sustainable Benchmarking in Value-Based Care. This resource is intended to assist health care stakeholders in developing Value-Based Care (VBC) model benchmarks that: 1) aligns payment with the goal of delivering efficient, high-quality, equitable, patient-centered care, 2) support ongoing investment in care delivery innovations, and 3) offer actionable steps for achieving predictable and sustainable long-term health care spending trends.
The Task Force believes advancing the adoption of VBC is critical to achieving sustainable improvements in health care in the United States. Successful VBC models are built on benchmarks that establish cost and quality targets, measure progress, and align incentives for health care providers. Creating sustainable benchmarks is challenging but essential for VBC success. This resource, which outlines five key principles for achieving effective benchmarks in value-based care, was developed in collaboration with members, including health care providers, payers, patient advocacy groups, purchasers, and VBC partner organizations. The five principles outline a vision for VBC benchmarks that are:
- Collaborative: VBC benchmarks should be designed collaboratively with input from providers, payers, and patients. Clear pathways for stakeholder input and sufficient time for reviewing proposed methodologies are crucial.
- Transparent: VBC benchmarks should be transparent to all stakeholders. Clear and objective criteria, publicly available methodology, and access to benchmark data are necessary for participants.
- Sustainable: VBC benchmarks should be financially viable for payers, providers, and patients in the long term. Consideration of practice size, reasonable spending targets, and accounting for ongoing investments are important factors.
- Outcomes-Based: VBC benchmarks should align with policy goals and focus on patient outcomes. Engaging stakeholders, using standardized performance measures, and sharing data and analytics are key drivers.
- Risk-Adjusted: VBC benchmarks should be risk-adjusted to account for variations in patient populations.
“The Task Force is excited to share this resource which is designed to support the development of effective and sustainable benchmarks in value-based care,” said Jeff Micklos, HCTTF Executive Director. “Improved benchmarks can lead to higher quality of care and more predictable spending trends.”
“For value-based care to be successful, there must be alignment across payers, providers, purchasers and patients in the design and implementation of sustainable cost and quality benchmarks,“ said Emily Brower, Senior Vice President, Clinical Integration and Physician Services, Trinity Health and HCTTF Chair. “This resource is an important contribution toward achieving this goal across all populations Task Force members serve.”