How Hospitals Can Tackle Surges With Value-Based Care

With the flu season ramping at unprecedented rates, and a new surge of RSV coming when COVID-19 numbers are rising again, the topic of a healthcare surge emergency is back in the headlines. What the New York Times is calling a “Tripledemic” is threatening to overwhelm providers and hospitals yet again. During the peak of the pandemic, hospitals experienced a surge in demand for physical resources and personnel that lasted nearly two years.  And just when things started to adjust back to some recognizable norms, the question is again on everyone’s mind: “How do we tackle a surge?”

 

According to Shereef Elnahal, MD, president and CEO of University Hospital and former Commissioner of New Jersey’s Department of Health, hospitals and health systems often lose money during their peak seasons. Supply shortages are largely due to the fact that most hospitals use a fee-for-service payment model.

 

Hospitals that charge on a fee-for-service basis are paid based on the volume of patients they treat, not the quality of patient outcomes. Because of this, hospitals usually operate at full capacity in order to reap the greatest rewards. When patient volumes rise during peak seasons, however, hospitals have little margin for error.

 

According to static payment rates for inpatient care, hospitals may struggle with seasonal demand. In order to keep up with surges, health systems may have to hire more staff or order more supplies, which leads to increased expenses despite no increase in revenue.

 

During flu season, primary care physicians often augment their workforce by up to 30 percent and still face financial challenges and capacity limitations. Across all healthcare facilities, staffing shortages have become worse as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the need for healthcare professionals.

 

Rather than relying on simply adding more headcount, health systems needa model that can easily adjust healthcare delivery to fit any situation, including increased patient capacity and pandemic surges. Creating a value-based payment model may give health systems more flexibility when dealing with demand surges.

 

According to the quality of care, providers are compensated using value-based payment models, not the quantity. This approach may inspire health systems to improve staffing procedures. In contrast to dividing physicians’ time in a way that will lead to the highest number of completed services, health systems might focus on patient needs and health outcomes in order to address them.

 

Physicians using a value-based model are less likely to refer patients to specialty care facilities if those referrals are not medically beneficial.

Because of Maryland’s value-based all-payer model, which reimburses hospitals using global budgets for inpatient episodes of care, hospitals in the state were able to manage the influx of patients during the pandemic far better than neighboring states with different models.

 

A study from JAMA Network Open noted that the all-payer model also decreased surgical spending and surgical complications. Providers can save resources and supplies for busy periods if they are reimbursed based on outcomes rather than quantity of services.

 

Patients may be able to avoid expensive hospital stays, saving staff time and resources, if they have access to healthcare services at home. Hospitalization rates may also be lowered by using home-based primary care services.

 

In addition, health systems could leverage telehealth services to assess patients and determine if an in-person visit is required. According to the authors, telehealth use could improve access to care and save hospitals money.

 

Patients may also be able to manage their acute conditions from home using remote patient monitoring technology.

 

Surges can also be a contributing factor to physician burnout. That is why reducing physician workload (blog post) should be a part of hospitals’ strategy of dealing with patient surges.

 

The DoctusTech Mobile App is based on our successful HCC education and retention strategy, which relies on clinical vignettes customized to the clinicians’ weaknesses and strengths, which are sent to their mobile phones every week. With an engagement rate of 90%, DoctusTech App results far exceed any other learning tool, technology, or strategy.

 

After using the app for HCC coding education, clinician RAF accuracy is consistently increased based on the learning data.

 

What methods does the app use to accomplish this?

 

Our app gamifies the learning experience, connects clinicians with one another, allows them to compete for real prizes, and provides administrative support. In addition, the most advanced HCC code search tool in the world is available. Clinicians earn 25 CME hours every year as they learn HCC coding in a non-boring app!

Implementing Value-Based Care – A How To For Physicians

Value-Based Care

Implementing Value-Based Care is essential for today’s physician. Value-based care is a system of payment and reimbursement that rewards healthcare providers for delivering high-quality, cost-effective care to patients. There are two ways to improve the value of care: improving the quality of care (fewer complications, less re-hospitalization, shorter length of stay, better patient experience); and reducing the cost of care (more efficient services, fewer administrative costs, reduction in waste and overuse of services). 

 

What is value-based care?

Value-based reimbursement is a system that aims to reward healthcare providers for providing high-quality care at an affordable price. It is important to understand that value-based reimbursement is not the same as cost reduction. It is not about minimizing costs, but rather, it is about maximizing quality while keeping costs low.

 

Benefits of value-based care

Better patient outcomes and experience – Through improved value-based care, you will likely be able to reduce the number of complications, readmissions, and other negative outcomes that patients experience. 

 

Reduced costs – An effective value-based care program will not only result in higher quality, but will also likely reduce your costs. You will be reimbursed for all of the services you provide, but only for the ones that meet your quality standards.

 

Increased revenue – Providing high-quality care can lead to greater patient satisfaction, word of mouth referrals from happy patients, and thus, more revenue.

 

Better reimbursement – A value-based care program will be focused on providing high-quality care, so your reimbursement should be higher as a result.

 

A sustainable business model – If you want to keep your business open and sustainable into the future, you must be able to adapt to the changing needs of your patients, payers, and providers. In order to do this, you must be open to new ideas and be willing to try new strategies. The best place to start is with value-based care.

 

How to implement value-based care effectively

Start with the end in mind – Before you can implement value-based care, you need to have a clear plan and vision for what your new value-based care program will look like.

 

Educate your staff – One of the most effective ways to implement value-based care is to educate your staff. HCC coding is not taught in medical school, so clinicians will need a fast and effective means of getting up to speed. Accurate and specific diagnosis coding for risk management will ensure better patient care and improved revenue. And when clinicians understand HCC coding,  the process, the metrics, and how their work impacts these metrics, all of VBC just works better

 

Educate your patients – Another important aspect of implementing value-based care is to educate your patients about what it means and why it is important.

 

Measure the right things – The first step in implementing value-based care is to make sure that the metrics you are measuring are actually contributing to value.

 

Find ways to reduce costs – Although you want to increase revenue and improve reimbursement, you also want to minimize costs.

 

Find the right partners – Last but not least, you need to find the right partners to work with to implement your value-based care program. (We would love the opportunity to earn your partnership on educating clinicians on HCC coding, as well as integrating documentation accuracy and value-based diagnosis resources into your EMR. Get in touch to learn more.)

Measure outcomes and quality

Clinical outcomes – In order to determine if a patient is receiving high-quality care, you must be able to measure their clinical outcomes (metrics such as blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar, or other lab values or diagnostic findings, e.g. pathology reports).

 

Patient experience – While clinical outcomes are important, they do not tell the whole story. Patients may be receiving high-quality care that is resulting in good outcomes, but they may also be receiving poor quality care that is resulting in bad outcomes.

 

Provider experience – In order to provide high-quality care, providers must receive high-quality training. In addition, they must have access to the right tools. If they do not, they will not be able to provide high-quality care.

 

Define your value-based care services

Identify your core services – Before you can define the value-based care services you will offer, you must first determine your core services.

 

Identify your add-on services – Once you have your core list of services, you can then identify add-on services that you offer patients but that are not absolutely required for them to receive care from you.

 

Assign value-based care units (VBUC) – Next, you must assign a value-based care unit cost (VBUC) to each service.

 

Create a menu of value-based care services – Once you have identified your core services and have assigned VBUCs to each one, you can then create a menu of value-based care services.

 

Summing up

Value-based care has the potential to transform healthcare in the United States. It is important to note, however, that value-based care is not a fad or trend that will quickly come and go. It is a system that has been around for decades and is continuously evolving as more is learned about what it takes to provide high-quality, cost-effective care to patients. If you want to survive and thrive in today’s healthcare environment, you must be willing and able to adapt to the changing needs of your patients, payers, and providers. The best place to start is with value-based care.