There is an increasing shift by health insurers away from regular payment methods to healthcare providers and into new ideas for doctor and hospital reimbursement. A recent Blue Cross survey is reporting that 1 out of every 5 dollars being paid to providers is now given for care improvements and lowered costs. Reed Abelson of The New York Times examines this shift towards value-based care in his article, “Health Insurers Are Trying New Payment Models, Study Shows.”

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association says that insurers in 350 programs surveyed nationwide are now spending billions on payment methods placing emphasis on the value of the care provided. While these changes appear to be giving good signs for improvements in care for patients, experts still say that major changes in provider pay are still far off. Some, like J. Bradley Wilson of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, believe instead that the fee-for-service system will continue to change more rapidly. Wilson says almost forty percent of Blue Cross payments in North Carolina have been changed to a new system already.

One new model involves paying for care in medical homes, a system in which patients are followed closely and have coordinated care. Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey gives a doctor five dollars per patient a month with an extra eleven dollars for meeting quality goals, meaning an extra $60,000 to $192,000 per year.

Horizon aims to have half of its 3.7 million members in programs like the medical home by 2017. In 2012, there were twenty-three percent fewer hospital admissions and twelve percent less emergency room visits for members of these medical homes or accountable care programs.  While these early findings do indicate progress, reform, and decreasing healthcare costs, it will still take several more years to more fully integrate these new programs and observe more reliable results.

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