Another important milestone of support for V-BID: prominent recognition in the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care.  On March 22, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the Strategy, mandated by the Affordable Care Act, which will help guide local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of health care in the United States.

"Consumer Incentives and Benefit Designs" is one of 10 policies identified to support priorities of the Strategy. Acknowledging that many Americans fail to adhere to evidence-based services, often due to cost, the report states, "At the Federal level, HHS is promoting value-based insurance models." 

 

  

Last month's The Lancet Oncology, includes a comment with input from V-BID Center's A. Mark Fendrick providing examples and laying the foundations for V-BID applications in oncology.  

  

The American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations (AAPPO) has launched 2 "Reaching for Value" V-BID Issue Briefs providing a good overview of V-BID in diabetes and also the potential for technology to enhance V-BID applications in diabetes.

  

Several new studies published last month highlight cost-related non-adherance:

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Enhancing Use of Clinical Preventive Services Among Older Adults: Closing the Gap reporting underutilization of high-value preventive care for older adults, such as mammograms and colorectal cancer screening.  

 

The American Journal of Managed Care published a study showing that families in high-deductible plans spent less on health care, and cut back on high-value preventive care.

 

AHRQ reported a decline in diabetes care, especially for lower income adults: 23% of lower income adults received recommended treatment in 2007, compared with 39% in 2002.

 

The Mayo Clinic Proceedings include a new study reporting that among community-dwelling patients with heart failure, medication adherence "was suboptimal in many patients, often because of cost."  A second article presents strategies and resources for improving adherence.

 

The Kaiser Family Foundation published two articles on the impacts of rising out-of-pocket costs for Medicare households:  Health Care on a Budget: The Financial Burden of Health Spending by Medicare Households and How Much "Skin in the Game" is Enough? The Financial Burden of Health Spending for People on Medicare 

 

Read other V-BID publications

 

• June 21-23: Minneapolis, MN.  NBCH National Health Leadership Council Forum. Comparative Effectiveness Research: What is it? Why Should Purchasers Care?