On June 8, the Commonwealth Fund released a report examining the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation established by the national health care reform law.  The report examines issues related to successfully developing, implementing, and monitoring the progress of new payment models.  The authors also highlight potential obstacles to addressing those issues.

From the report: If the objectives of health reform—improved access, higher quality, and slower cost growth—are to be achieved, the health care delivery system must be reformed to provide coordinated, appropriate, and effective care, with accountability for patient outcomes and population health, and more diligent stewardship of the nation’s health care resources. But changing the way health care is organized and delivered requires a change in the way it is paid for—with alternative approaches that would better align financial incentives with system goals, and enable and encourage providers to consider their patients’ needs in a broader context, collaborate to provide the care that they need, and take mutual responsibility for patient outcomes and cost.

Full report: Developing Innovative Payment Approaches (PDF | 628KB)

Commonwealth Fund.  (2010).  Developing innovative payment approaches: finding the path to high performance.  Guterman, S. and Drake, H.