A new research brief in Health Affairs, Value-Based Payment As A Tool To Address Excess US Health Spending, cites a study of IHA’s California Healthcare Cost & Quality Atlas as providing “the most plentiful evidence on savings from capitation at the delivery system level.” The study, published in 2019 by Stephen M. Shortell, Richard M. Scheffler, Shivi Anand, and Daniel R. Arnold, found that “the difference in the total cost of care between the no-risk physician organizations and the full-risk organizations is $161 per member per year, or about 3.6 percent higher for the no-risk physician organizations.”
The Health Affairs research brief also provides a definition of capitation, commonly referred to as provider risk-sharing, population-based payment, or an integrated care model, and explores the prevalence of capitation across the U.S. health system today. The brief also examines the available research on all types of value-based care, including bundled payments and accountable care organizations (ACOs), to understand how value-based payment as a systemic intervention can affect all drivers of excess health spending and growth, including prices, administrative waste, clinical waste, and other factors.
According to Health Affairs, research briefs are produced by Health Affairs staff based on research conducted to support the Health Affairs Council on Health Care Spending and Value. Each research brief is intended as a snapshot of especially salient published work on a given topic, rather than as a systematic literature review.