How Can State Hasten Payment Reform?

California is leading the way in the effort to change how health care is paid for in the United States, but even in the Golden State most commercial payments to providers are still based on fee-for-service arrangements that reward volume rather than quality or outcomes.

According to the California Scorecard on Payment Reform released last month, almost 42% of commercial payments to providers in California are tied to how well the providers deliver care, measuring quality, outcomes and efficiency. Compared with a national average of about 11% in the National Scorecard on Payment Reform released in the spring, California is ahead of the curve.

However, the 42% of providers who are reimbursed for care based on value in California are countered by the 58% reimbursed for the number of tests and procedures they perform.

We asked stakeholders what California can do to hasten and improve health care payment reform.

We got responses from:

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>How Can State Hasten Payment Reform?</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2013-11-11T03:00:00-08:00">
			November 11, 2013		</time>
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<p>California is leading the way in the effort to change how health care is paid for in the United States, but even in the Golden State most commercial payments to providers are still based on fee-for-service arrangements that reward volume rather than quality or outcomes.</p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.catalyzepaymentreform.org/2013-03-03-05-08-38/california-scorecard">California Scorecard on Payment Reform</a> released last month, almost 42% of commercial payments to providers in California are tied to how well the providers deliver care, measuring quality, outcomes and efficiency. Compared with a national average of about 11% in the <a href="http://www.catalyzepaymentreform.org/how-we-catalyze/national-scorecard">National Scorecard on Payment Reform</a> released in the spring, California is ahead of the curve.</p><p>However, the 42% of providers who are reimbursed for care based on value in California are countered by the 58% reimbursed for the number of tests and procedures they perform.</p><p>We asked stakeholders what California can do to hasten and improve health care payment reform.</p><p>We got responses from:</p><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p>

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