Paying for Value

Purchasers are increasingly interested in assessing and buying value in health care based on information about quality and cost. Accountable care delivery is being discussed on a national level, but few tools and little guidance exist to help purchasers assess an accountable care organization’s capability to deliver value. To complicate matters, little information exists for purchasers to help them identify value and understand the variations in price, utilization, and quality. To address these issues, the Washington Health Alliance developed two tools:
  1. The Value Portfolio, which combines data on price, utilization, and mortality/adverse event rates
  2. The Purchaser Guidelines to Evaluate Contracts for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to assess ACO capability
This session highlighted the AF4Q community in Washington state’s success in creating transparency that empowers purchasers to recognize and demand value. The panelists shared their insights on the importance of persistence in collaborating with data suppliers to find creative solutions for delivering user-friendly information to purchasers. The right data can help guide purchaser efforts to improve value in an environment where it has been difficult to gain access to quality and pricing data.