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Alternative payment models that put financial risk on healthcare providers improved care quality for patients with diabetes more so than fee-for-service and incentive payment programs, according to a new study published in Health Affairs.
“Models that place greater financial risk on providers, such as global payment and shared savings, tend to demonstrate greater improvements in diabetes quality metrics compared with lower-risk pay-for-performance models,” the study’s authors wrote.
For example, all process-related quality measures improved in the Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts Alternative Quality Contract, a global budget demonstration in which providers received annual per-patient global budget payments for the entirety of care for assigned patients. Most significantly, eye examinations increased by 7.2 percent, the study found.