Moving beyond health care’s fee-for-service
A new study suggests that global budgets for health care, an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service model of reimbursement, can slow the growth of medical spending and improve the quality of care for patients. Researchers from Harvard Medical School’s Department of Health Care Policy have analyzed claims data from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts’ Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), a global budget program in which 11 health care provider organizations were given a budget to care for patients who use Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts insurance. Such a model contrasts with widely used fee-for-service systems, where providers are reimbursed for each medical service they deliver. The AQC predates, but is similar to, the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization contracts that Medicare began this year through the Affordable Care Act, an initiative in which Medicare will reward groups of providers based on improved outcomes and lower health care spending. The researchers looked at the...