A 2023 report from insurer Humana found that the number of patients receiving care under value-based models has increased by 2.3 million in the last decade. This increase poses the question of whether it has the potential to overtake the fee-for-service model as the most common care method in the industry.
Though participation in value-based models is rising, fee-for-service still reigns supreme, with 46% of physicians participating in this payment model, making it the most popular in healthcare. Value-based care follows as the second-most common practice, with 14% of physicians participating, as of April 2023.
Becker's connected with Navneet Dang, MD, chief medical officer at Danville, Pa.-based Geisinger, to discuss if this growing industry shift is for the better.
Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: What healthcare trend are you most excited about?
Dr. Navneet Dang: One thing that I am particularly excited about is the transition from the fee-for-service model to value-based care model.
The reason is because traditionally, we have always focused on fee-for-service, and traditionally more care is not always high-quality care. With value-based care, the focus is on providing high-quality care with a lower cost. So I think that's really good for our patients and our communities.
Q: Do you think value-based care will become more mainstream in the industry?
Dr. Dang: I don't think we are there yet. We are still in that hybrid world where a lot of care is still fee-for-service. But I'm very optimistic that we are moving fast toward the transition to value-based care. It still needs more work, but I am very optimistic for the future.