5 Strategies for Aligning Physician Compensation with Value-Based Performance

by Amanda Brown, MHA

The move toward value-based contracts is happening “in small doses,” a 2018 MGMA survey found. While nearly three out of five hospitals participate in value-based contracts, just 34 percent of healthcare reimbursement is tied to value. This presents healthcare leaders with a dilemma: How can we engage physicians in value-based payment models when so little […]

Adjusting wRVUs for Modifiers when Compensating Physicians: The How and the Why

by Karin Chernoff Kaplan, Director

The use of CPT code modifiers to adjust work relative value units (wRVUs) under physician compensation models has become a universal practice among hospitals and health systems that employ physicians—and with good reason. The risks of not applying CPT code modifiers—such as an inability to objectively measure performance—are significant. Why should healthcare organizations that employ […]

Coordinated Medical Staff Development Planning for Large Health Systems

by Robert Hill, MBA, MS, FACHE and Craig E. Holm, MBA, FACHE

Medical staff development planning requires analytic rigor and detailed work. There is no way around it; a multi-hospital health system needs to determine the needs of each of its individual hospitals, as well as the system in the aggregate, in a consistent manner. Health systems can realize resource efficiencies and strategic benefits by addressing medical […]

BPCI Advanced: Apply Now,
Decide Later

by Amanda Brown, Manager, and Amanda Kueh, Analyst

CMS has opened applications for a second cohort of BPCI Advanced (Bundled Payment for Care Improvement-Advanced) participants in April. This initial application step gets you valuable data, and time to decide whether to pursue participation. Advantages of applying include: No obligation to participate. You have time (likely until fall 2019) to decide whether to sign […]

A Successful Practice Acquisition Begins with Due Diligence

by Jessica E. Stack, Senior Manager

Open PDF file >

It’s tempting to short-change the due diligence process when acquiring a physician practice. In the heat of a deal, hospital leaders are understandably most interested in determining fair market value (FMV) so they can make the buy decision and set the purchase price. The due diligence process can turn up insights about a physician practice […]

Finding a Partner with the Right Cultural Fit: 4 Strategies

by Meredith Inniger, Manager

Open PDF file > It’s healthcare’s version of dating: sizing up another organization for a potential partnership or merger. Seventy-one percent of healthcare leaders expect their organization’s merger, acquisition, or partnership activity to increase over the next three years. With continued changes to healthcare’s competitive landscape, hospital mergers and acquisitions (M&As) reached a record high […]

Engaging Primary Care Physicians in Value-Based Payment

by Rudd Kierstead, MBA, MPP
Becker's Hospital Review
May 2018

  It’s one thing to sit down with a payer and negotiate incentivized goals in a value-based payment contract. It’s a different thing entirely to change the behavior of the practitioners in your medical group in order to meet those goals. Physicians who choose to sell their practice and become employees are typically relieved to […]