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HHS launches Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network to drive value-based conversions, innovation

Participants in the program are expected to scale their value-based payments to 30 percent by 2016 and 50 percent by 2018.

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A band of big-name healthcare payers and providers on Wednesday jumped into the value-based arena, pledging to support timetables set by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to tie more of their payment to value over the next few years.

Participants of the new Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, which the HHS said includes patients, insurers, providers, states, consumer groups and employers, are expected to scale their value-based payments to 30 percent by 2016 and 50 percent by 2018.

[Also: See where the Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs are]

The transition from traditional fee-for-service, where insurers and government payers pay providers a set amount for each service performed, to value-based, in which the payers considers clinical outcomes and certain benchmarks tied to the overall quality of the care given in the payment calculation, is among the top issues in healthcare since the adoption of the Affordable Care Act.

Officials said the network, which includes the American Cancer Society, the American College of Physicians, Caesars Entertainment, Cigna and the State of Delaware, among others, will act as a forum for participants where they can convene and hopefully collaborate on programs that will drive conversions to value-based payments or adoption of alternative models such as accountable care organizations.

HHS said an independent contractor will lead the forum.

HHS Secretary Silvia M. Burwell announced the program in a statement and through a live video broadcast from the White House.with President Barack Obama.

Here is the video. Scroll to the 40 minute mark to see the event:

Twitter: @HenryPowderly