The recent dust-up over Direct Contracting and its ultimate rebranding as the ACO REACH model may have led some to believe that our path forward is unclear. That couldn’t be further from the truth.
On this episode, we talk with François de Brantes, Senior Vice President of Episodes of Care at Signify Health, about where we are on the pathway to escaping the tyranny of Fee-For-Service healthcare.
It’s tyranny because it prevents us from delivering care the way we want to and need to. Advanced Alternative Payment Models like ACO Reach allow organizations to separate payment from delivery, stop focusing their efforts on top-line revenue, and begin to operate like typical P & L driven companies. The promise, of course, is that this will change the way healthcare is delivered in the U.S., improve outcomes and lower costs.
Key topics:
- Has utilization and payment returned to pre-pandemic norms?
- Why are commercial carriers lagging Medicare and Medicaid in launching Advanced Alternative Payment Models?
- Will the shift to value and consumer-centric delivery methods like telemedicine reduce the amount of uncompensated care?
- Is it possible to be proactive and patient-centric in Fee-for-service?
- Are provider systems ready for AAPMs?
- Can employers band together to create enough demand for AAPMs in the under-65 commercial market?
- What were the arguments against the Direct Contracting Model? Did they have merit?
- What changes were made to Direct Contracting as part of the rebrand to ACO Reach?
- How does this dust-up over Direct Contracting confirm we are on a bi-partisan, unwavering march toward value and never going back?
- Why did Signify Health acquire Caravan Health?
François de Brantes
François de Brantes serves as Senior Vice President of Episodes of Care at Signify Health. He leads customer development of the Medicare Advantage, Self-Insured Employer, and Commercial Payer markets. He has spent close to two decades working to transform the U.S. healthcare system by improving incentives for providers and consumers in order to encourage value-based decisions.
Prior to joining Signify Health, he served as Vice President of Altarum, a national nonprofit. From 2006 to 2016, he was Executive Director of the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3), a not-for-profit company that designed programs to motivate physicians and hospitals to improve the quality and affordability of healthcare delivery. The organization, which merged with Altarum in December 2017, was responsible for the Bridges to Excellence® (BTE) and PROMETHEUS Payment® programs, which compensate and reward clinicians that focus on episodes of care and performance measures.
Prior to HCI3, François was Chief Operating Officer of the eHealth Initiative (eHI), which promotes adoption of health information technology in the U.S. He led the development of eHI’s HIE Value and Sustainability Model, a method to value services offered by Health Information Exchanges. Early in his career working in General Electric’s corporate health care department, he was involved in many strategic programs that created, connected and supported Active Consumers, and defined market mechanisms to reward providers for better performance.
- Twitter: @Fdebrantes
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/francois-de-brantes-99a46614/
Signify Health
Signify Health is a leading healthcare platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology, and nationwide healthcare provider networks to create and power value-based payment programs at scale. Signify’s mission is to transform how care is paid for and delivered so that people can enjoy more healthy, happy days at home.
Signify’s solutions support value-based payment programs by aligning financial incentives around outcomes, providing tools to health plans and healthcare organizations designed to assess and manage risk and identify actionable opportunities for improved patient outcomes, coordination and cost-savings. Through our platform, they coordinate a holistic suite of clinical, social, and behavioral services to address an individual’s healthcare needs and prevent adverse events that drive excess cost, all while shifting services towards the home. In March 2022, the company acquired Caravan Health, a leading enabler of Accountable Care Organizations. The combined entity creates one of the largest national networks of at-risk providers and enables the company to offer a broader range of value-based and shared savings models to advanced primary care to specialty care bundles and total cost of care programs.
- Twitter: @SignifyHealth
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/signifyhealth/
- Web: https://www.signifyhealth.com/
Links and Resources
- A Scoping Review of Alternative Payment Models in Maternity Care: Insights in Key Design Elements and Effects on Health and Spending
- The Essential Role of Employers in Aligning Plan Design & Payment Reform to Improve Quality, Enhance Equity and Promote Value
- The Case For ACOs: Why Payment Reform Remains Necessary – Michael E. Chernew J. Michael McWilliams
- Medicare Advantage, Direct Contracting, And The Medicare ‘Money Machine,’ Part 1: The Risk-Score Game
- Episode 174: Everything You Need to Know About Value-Based Payment Models to Prepare for 2022 with Gail Zahtz
- Episode 125: Making Value-Based Care Work in Rural Health w/ Lynn Barr
- Episode 86: The Future of Value-Based Payment w/ François de Brantes of Remedy
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Music by StudioEtar