An Employer-Provider Direct Payment Program Is Associated With Lower Episode Costs

The electronic health record: marching anesthesiology toward value-added processes and digital patient experiences

“…Initially, savings with bundled payments were modest in early analyses of the Medicare population undergoing joint replacement surgery 15–17. However, recent data of direct payments in a self-insured employer population showed substantial savings to both employers and patients (10.7% and 27.7%), thus demonstrating the potential for this approach to lower costs both to patients and to payers 18. The evolution from data entry to extraction to analysis within the EHR presents a new opportunity for anesthesia groups to analyze their patient population and surgical cases using similar methods used by actuarial organizations.…”

“…[15][16][17] However, recent data of direct payments in a self-insured employer population showed substantial savings to both employers and patients (10.7% and 27.7%), thus demonstrating the potential for this approach to lower costs both to patients and to payers. 18 The evolution from data entry to extraction to analysis within the EHR presents a new opportunity for anesthesia groups to analyze their patient population and surgical cases using similar methods used by actuarial organizations. By doing so, they can appropriately identify the patients and the processes that can transition to VAPs.…”

Bundled Payment Program Produced Dramatic Savings in Spinal Fusion Surgery

“…“Our results demonstrate that direct payment programs that use bundled payment mechanisms can have financial benefits for employers and patients,” said Christopher M. Whaley, the study's lead author in a statement from RAND. “Whether these results remain localized to a small number of ‘big ticket’ procedures or expand to broader patient populations and procedure types remains to be seen.” (See Whaley et al, 2021. )…”