Most healthcare CEOs lean toward value-based reimbursement, poll finds

CHICAGO — The nation's leading healthcare executives overwhelmingly embrace the move by government and private payers to value-based reimbursement, even though a third say it will negatively affect their profitability, a new Modern Healthcare CEO poll shows.

 

While more than three quarters of respondents said value-based reimbursement, which includes bundled payments, shared savings agreements and penalties and rewards for achieving quality and cost goals, should be the dominant method of healthcare reimbursement, only 20% of the chief executive officers said they were willing to abandon the fee-for-service payment model entirely and move to 100% capitated payment arrangements, where providers receive a set monthly fee to serve each covered life under their care.

 

Key findings of the first survey showed 78% of respondents backing moves by payers like CMS, private insurers and private employers toward value-based reimbursement models with fee-for-service playing a declining and minor role. "We should be compensated for results, not just for doing something," said Chris Van Gorder, president and CEO of Scripps Health in San Diego.

 

But only 20% said that fee-for-service should end entirely. "I still see areas of medicine that lend themselves better to fee-for-service reimbursement," said Joseph Vasile, CEO of the Greater Rochester Independent Practice Association, which represents over 1,000 physicians.

 

In other key findings, only 2% of respondents believe FFS medicine should continue to play the dominant role in healthcare reimbursement, even though 27% of respondents said moving to value-based reimbursement models will shrink their top-line revenue and 33% said it would shrink their margins. 

 

The results of Modern Healthcare's first quarterly CEO Power Panel survey reflect the opinions of 55 CEOs, who come from many of the nation's largest hospital, physician practice, insurer, trade association and think tank organizations. Modern Healthcare CEO Power Panel will expand to 100 CEOs for its next quarterly survey, which will be released in the third quarter.

 

"Modern Healthcare launched this quarterly CEO Power Panel survey to provide an authoritative sampling of healthcare's top leadership opinion for elected leaders, regulators and system participants as they grapple with how to provide high quality and affordable care for the American people," said Merrill Goozner, editor of Modern Healthcare. "Our survey panel has been carefully selected to serve as representative sample of the healthcare system's leadership."

 

Each participant agreed to participate in every survey. The process will be the same each quarter. Modern Healthcare conducts an initial survey of CEO Power Panel members to identify the timeliest issue. The questions are written by Modern Healthcare's editorial team.