NASHVILLE – Gov. Bill Haslam and TennCare officials say shifting the basis of Tennessee Medicaid payments from the volume of service provided to patients by doctors and hospitals over to the quality value of care is, well, paying off.
It’s already saved Tennessee government at least $11.1 million during the change’s first year of implementation, Haslam and TennCare Director Dr. Wendy Long said today in a news release.
At the same time, officials said, the program maintained good quality of services from doctors and hospitals under the new “episodes of care value-based payment strategy.”
“We launched the Health Care Innovation Initiative in February 2013 to make health care in Tennessee a value-based system focused on efficiency, quality of care and the patient experience,” Haslam said.
The governor added that Tennessee “has established itself as a leader in paying for value in health care, and these results are an early and exciting indication of the promise of our approach.”