“Clinical laboratory executives should take note of a key financial fact. The transition from fee-for-service healthcare to value-based reimbursement is occurring at a faster clip than theDepartment of Health and Human Services (HHS) anticipated last year when federal officials announced a plan to tie 30 percent of traditional Medicare spending to alternative payments models by the end of 2016.
“That means the transition away from fee-for-service payment for medical laboratory tests and other healthcare services is moving ahead of schedule. As evidence, HHS recently announced it reached the 30 percent target at the start of 2016, nearly a year ahead of the schedule laid out when the Obama administration outlined a plan to reward healthcare providers based on quality of care rather than the volume of services they provide.”
“The 30 percent milestone represents an estimated 10 million Medicare patients receiving value-based care.”
Bundles News says that “the faster-than-expected shift to alternative payment models and value-based reimbursement should serve as a wake-up call to pathologists and clinical laboratory executives who soon may find that fee-for-service reimbursement is no longer the primary payment method for anatomic pathology services and medical laboratory tests.”