VHA Inc. Leverages Unmatched Gainsharing, Analytics and Consulting Expertise to Help Health Care Systems Make Sense of Bundled Payments
Hospitals Nationwide Employing VHA's Bundled Payment Solution
(firmenpresse) - IRVING, TX -- (Marketwire) -- 01/10/12 -- As U.S. hospitals and health care systems prepare for health care reform and the transition from "pay for service" to "pay for performance," most organizations are evaluating how various new reimbursement models, including bundled payments, will affect their long-term financial viability. To help health care systems test their readiness, assess their savings opportunities and analyze their claims data for potential bundles and payments, VHA Inc., the national health care network, is leveraging its 35 years of experience helping hospitals and health systems realize greater cost effectiveness, plus its 16 years experience in hospital-physician alignment consulting -- including the expertise of the industry's only true gainsharing model approved by the Office of Inspector General -- to provide systems with a complete Bundled Payment Solution.
VHA's Bundled Payment Solution consists of three distinct components -- Bundled Payments Services (consulting), Bundled Payment Collaboratives and Bundled Payment Simulation. They can be employed individually or in aggregate to help hospitals evaluate the results of bundled payments in their environment. No other health care company offers the same degree of comprehensiveness that VHA's Bundled Payment Solution provides. Currently, VHA is providing some or all of this comprehensive solution -- including its recently launched Bundled Payment Simulation Project, to 102 hospitals and health care systems nationwide.
According to Lani Berman, vice president of performance services, VHA expects exponential growth in demand for its Bundled Payment Solution because it represents the only comprehensive approach -- consulting, simulation and collaboratives -- available in the health care industry. Moreover, VHA's Bundled Payment Solution includes specific considerations related to commercial payers as well as those associated with Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative.
"Health care systems cannot afford to look at something as complex as the imminent shift in reimbursement models in a one-dimensional fashion, and never before have systems had so great a need for expert help in applying data and analytics to understand what now seems like an uncertain future," says Berman. "There are simply too many things hospitals need to know about their financial and clinical management infrastructure to understand what their futures look like in a pay-for-performance world. First and foremost, reform-driven changes are going to require physicians and health care systems to truly align on cost reduction efforts across all DRGs. That's a mammoth task for systems to undertake when they're trying to manage the day-to-day business of providing the best possible care for their patients."
VHA's consultants help organizations understand and become comfortable with the logistical issues and financial implications associated with bundling payments. VHA already is working with organizations that want to apply for the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center's Bundled Payment Care Improvement Initiative, helping them navigate the complex process required for applications to the initiative by March 2012. Additionally, consultants utilize VHA's custom analytics to develop payment bundles that are appropriate for each organization, and help health care systems implement a program -- whether it's gainsharing or VHA's Door-to-Discharge™ Program -- to help them achieve savings. Finally, VHA's consultants work with hospitals and health care systems to develop their Bundled Payment Care Improvement Initiative applications.
VHA developed a unique specifically for hospitals to simulate volume and reimbursement projections for total knee replacement surgery episodes. This project will engage clinical and financial leaders to measure the opportunity, assess the risks and analyze the potential return on investment. Unique to the project will be VHA's Bundled Payment Simulator, a reimbursement modeling tool that lets participants identify estimated case volumes and associated reimbursement projections based on defined population demographics.
VHA will access Thomson Reuters' expansive MarketScan® data, methodologies and expertise to provide VHA members with information needed to effectively design bundled services and contract with payers including employers, health plans and CMS.
To leverage VHA's powerful regional networks and help members become familiar with the basics of bundled payments, VHA has established . Over a 6-12 month period, VHA offers members a series of educational opportunities including webinars and in-person workshops designed to foster understanding of the strategic requirements of bundled payments, identify what services should be considered, learn how to manage a risk arrangement with physicians, model the financial implications of bundled payments, evaluate current infrastructure, and analyze any gaps in readiness. The information shared as part of VHA's Bundled Payment Collaboratives span any DRG, any provider, and any payer mix.
Berman says that VHA's Bundled Payment Solution represents another strategic way that VHA has leveraged its regional networks, data and analytics, and unmatched cost-management consulting services to help hospitals and health systems remain vital and healthy. "We understand the complexities associated with aligning physicians and health systems to achieve critical improvements, and we've done so successfully for more than 16 years. We have a proven track record helping hospitals redesign their care processes, reduce pricing, and improve product and ancillary services utilization, as our Door-to-Discharge program continues to demonstrate. Our Bundled Care Solution underscores our commitment to giving hospitals the hands-on, real-time support they need to analyze how bundled payments will impact the way they provide, and are reimbursed for, affordable and quality health care."
VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance, and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Since 1977, VHA has leveraged its expertise in analytics, contracting, consulting and networks to help members achieve their operational, clinical and financial objectives. In 2010, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.7 billion to members. VHA serves more than 1,350 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide, coordinating delivery of its programs and services through its 16 regional offices. VHA has been ranked as one of the best places to work in healthcare by Modern Healthcare since the publication introduced this list in 2008.
VHA Media Contact
Maxine Levy
972-830-7845
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Datum: 10.01.2012 - 10:31 Uhr
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