The idea of value-based purchasing (VBP) is intended to encourage hospitals to provide higher-quality care for inpatients so that the latter would generally have a better healthcare experience. On the most basic level, VBP is a form of performance management that seeks to tie the quality of care in a given healthcare facility to the monetary incentives it receives. In its basic form, it is a logical development of the pay-for-reporting approach (Simsir & Altindis, 2019). However, unlike pay-for-reporting, VBP is based on results rather than inputs. Instead of how many patients a hospital ‘processes’ per unit of time, it now matters how efficient it is in addressing their concerns and improving their well-being (Simsir & Altindis, 2019). , the obvious intent of the VBP reform is to provide better comprehensive care for patients, which, of course, can only be lauded.
The key issue with designing and implementing a VBP reform is measuring the value in question and creating the metrics to do so. Simsir and Altindis (2019) are right to note that if the metrics to judge value stress some aspect of hospital performance over other important ones, it can lead to the neglect of comprehensive care. Moreover, such an approach can also result in a decrease in trust in the healthcare system (Simsir & Altindis, 2019). If this occurs, it will undermine the healthcare system’s ability to generate value for the people’s well-being, which is the primary goal of the VPB. Considering that, a VPB reform can only be successful if the utmost consideration is given to the metrics used to define value and provide incentives to the hospitals demonstrating the best score. While VBP as a concept has great promise, even e few shortcuts in implementing it may negate the positive impact may negate it altogether.
Reference
Simsir, E., & Altindis, S. (2019). Could value-based purchasing approach be used in assessment of healthcare delivery outputs? Konuralp Medical Journal, 11(2), 475-481. Web.