Moving to value
Barnabas Health shares its experience of moving to a value-based system
As the healthcare industry transforms from a volume-based to a value-based payment system, it helps to learn from other organizations' experiences. Attendees of the June 19 education session, Operationalizing Value-Based Purchasing, at the Healthcare Financial Management Association's ANI 2013 next week in Orlando, Fla., will get the inside scoop from Barnabas Health's experience.
Barnabas Health is one of New Jersey's largest integrated health systems. It includes six acute care hospitals, three teaching facilities, two children's hospitals, a state-wide behavioral health network and the only certified burn treatment center in the state. It is the state's second largest private employer and the system provides treatment and services to more than 2 million patients every year.
[See also: Value-based payments picking up steam]
Barnabas began focusing on quality metrics before the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began its push toward reimbursements based on quality, said Deborah Larkin-Carney, Barnabas' vice president, quality, and one of the presenters of the education session at the conference.
It started with four core measures and has since expanded, but getting everyone on board in the beginning was a tough sell. Larkin-Carney said there are three core elements needed to make the conversion to a value-based system.
First of all is data.
"Gotta have data or it's not going to work," she said. And that data has to have integrity, or else you lose the people right from the start.
[See also: Value-based purchasing gains traction with healthcare leaders]
Having data that is linked to outcomes allows for the stakeholders in the system – leadership, physicians and payers – to see the value in the quality effort.
Secondly, you need leadership engagement – and not just with the CEO. You need a leadership team, including the CEO, finance folks, physicians and payers.
And lastly, communication. It is essential to keep the lines of communication open and information transparent, said Larkin-Carney. Sharing data with all the stakeholders, knowing and understanding the needs of each stakeholder and creating a common vision keeps everyone engaged.
