PYA Executive Briefing: Value-Based Purchasing

Perhaps because CMS launched the Hospital Compare website over five years ago with the promise that some form of pay-for-performance was coming, the announcement in April last year of the final rules for Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) bordered on being a non-event. Overshadowed by the ongoing interest and debate regarding other elements of the Affordable Care Act, VBP almost appeared at the time to be another routine CMS announcement updating Medicare reimbursement. But today, most hospitals recognize that value-based purchasing is a game-changing shift in approach that has significant short- and long-term ramifications for large and small health systems alike.