The concept of value-based care (“VBC”) is that incentives (and disincentives) imposed on providers will lead to less expensive and higher quality healthcare.

A large amount of data has been collected regarding the performance of various VBC models.  Some have been modestly successful; others not at all.  Value-based care broadly defined is here to stay.  It is both laudable and achievable.  However, its objectives are undermined by imposing on providers complex, burdensome, varying, and expensive “incentives”, often misaligned with the realities of everyday clinical practice.

There are many challenges to achieving the twin promises of lower costs and better healthcare metrics for broad patient groups.  Changing well established norms and expectations is unlikely to occur on the basis of laws and regulations alone.  Indeed, in many ways, federal attempts to solve multiple challenges at once on a national scale have proved self-defeating.

Conversely, the smaller, more focused, VBC efforts seem to have shown greater success.  Also, trusting the inherent desire of providers to deliver proper care to their patients at a transparent and reasonable price is more likely to achieve the promise of value-based care.

The tools and processes needed to drive meaningful and positive VBC results need not be expensive or burdensome.  Circles have demonstrated this.  They integrate the technology, processes, user experience, and low cost which make support value-based care for practitioners around the world.

For more information on this topic, see this article.  For more information on Circles, please