January 30, 2024
WASHINGTON, DC — Anas Daghestani, MD, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Austin Regional Clinic (Texas) and the Chair of the Board of Directors of America’s Physician Groups (APG), called on Congress and federal regulators today to ensure the appropriate payment models, upfront investment, predictability, and stability to enable the nation’s clinicians to make greater progress in adoption of value-based health care. His comments came at a congressional briefing in Washington, DC, sponsored by the Alliance for Value-Based Patient Care, of which APG is a member.
“We can’t change something that has been around for 50, 60, 70 years” – in other words, the existing fee-for-service payment structure – “ if you don’t invest [and ensure] predictability and stability” in alternative payment models and programs such as Medicare Advantage, Dr. Daghestani said. He was joined by other speakers including two members of Congress, Representative Darin LaHood (R-IL) and Representative Suzan DelBene (D-WA), who shared their perspectives about the importance of value-based health care.
Today’s briefing at the Rayburn House Office Building, entitled ‘Value 201: Improving Patient Health & Lowering Costs’, focused on how value-based health care benefits patients, strengthens the care delivery system, and lowers costs. Experts from APG and other Alliance organizations outlined the benefits of transitioning to alternative payment models and explained how Congress can continue to support and strengthen the movement to value-based care.
In his remarks, Representative LaHood said that by promoting enhanced coordination among “hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers, this collaborative approach…will improve beneficiaries’ quality of care and, ultimately, health outcomes.” He added that the fact that value-based care not only treats illnesses but also prioritizes “prevention, collaboration, and patient satisfaction is important.”
Representative DelBene said that value-based accountable care organizations have generated more than $22 billion in savings for Medicare over the last decade and “have scored higher than average on quality metrics. If we just look at data, we’re making a lot of great progress…but we’ve got more work to do.” In particular, she said, Congress needs to extend the Medicare bonuses on top of fees paid to clinicians in advanced alternative payment models that expired in 2023. “We have to assist people through this transition and so this is a key part of that,” she said.
In addition to APG, the members of the Alliance for Value-Based Patient Care are the American Medical Association, the American Medical Group Association, the Health Care Transformation Task Force, the National Association of ACOs, and Premier.
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About America’s Physician Groups
APG’s approximately 360 physician groups comprise 170,000 physicians, as well as thousands of other clinicians, providing care to nearly 90 million patients. APG’s motto, ‘Taking Responsibility for America’s Health,’ represents our members’ commitment to clinically integrated, coordinated, value-based health care in which physician groups are accountable for the costs and quality of patient care. Visit us at www.apg.org.
Contact: Greg Phillips, APG Director of Communications, 202-770-1901
