Value-based payment models are on the rise, but the way isn’t clear for speedy adoption among family physician practices.

That’s according to a follow-up study on physician acceptance of value-based payment from the American Academy of Family Physicians and Humana Inc. The study finds that while 54 percent of family physicians indicate their practices participate in value-based payment models and half believe value-based payment models will encourage greater collaboration between primary care physicians and specialists, there are still issues that must be resolved before broader acceptance occurs.

Value-based payment models are gaining acceptance, the study finds, as reflected in IT, care coordination and other investments. Family physicians are acknowledging a connection between quality and payment, with 37 percent of value-based payments distributed within a family physician’s practice based on achieving quality and/or outcome measures. That’s an increase from 18 percent, as reported in the original study in 2015.

Family physicians are also investing in care coordination as part of their approach to value-based payment models, with 32 percent of family physicians reporting that they provide ongoing care management/coordination services to all high-risk patients. That’s up 23 percent from 2015’s results. In addition, 43 percent cite hiring/hired care management and care coordinators, up from 2015’s 33 percent.

They’re also earmarking more practice resources for value-based payment, with more than half—54 percent—of family physicians in a practice that is updating or adding health IT infrastructure for data management and analysis to participate in value-based payment.

But it’s not all going smoothly, with issues related to administrative burden still rearing their heads and impeding progress—the same issues that were identified in 2015. Respondents report such issues as a lack of staff time (reported by 90 percent of respondents), a lack of transparency between payors and providers (reported by 78 percent), a lack of standardization of performance measures (78 percent) and no uniform insurance company reports on performance (75 percent) as barriers to navigating and implementing value-based payment models.

In addition, just 8 percent of family physicians agree with the statement “quality expectations are easy to meet in VBP models.” That’s down from 13 percent in 2015.

Instant Insights /

Adoption of value-based models increasing, but obstacles remain

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