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Value-based payment (VBP) — which ties health care reimbursement to quality and cost outcomes — has gained traction across the health care sector. Primary care providers participating in VBP arrangements have often performed well, likely due to their focus on prevention and cost-efficient care. However, community health centers (CHCs), which provide primary care to more than 31 million people across the country, have faced challenges entering into VBP arrangements.
One reason is financial. Many CHCs operate on slim margins that are only getting slimmer with rising costs, making it difficult to fund the necessary infrastructure (e.g., legal, financial, and data expertise) for VBP implementation. VBP agreements often require CHCs to juggle different data obligations and quality goals across contracts, which adds significant administrative overhead.
Despite these barriers, there is a newfound urgency, hastened by financial pressures and the shift to VBP among health care payers and providers, for CHCs to transition to VBP. For CHCs to remain sustainable and mission-aligned, they will need to embrace these transformations while safeguarding their core commitment to high-quality, community-focused care.