Ballad Health supports national LAN’s new goals to accelerate reach and impact of value-based payment reform

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn., Oct. 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On Thursday, the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN) released the results from its latest Alternative Payment Model (APM) Measurement Effort, an annual collaboration to measure nationwide progress in APM adoption. Building on the Measurement Effort results, the LAN unveiled new goals and visions for the future of national payment reform.

Ballad Health Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Alan Levine has been selected to serve on the newly launched CEO Forum of the LAN, along with other notable national leaders in healthcare.  

“Ballad Health pledges its support for the LAN’s new goals as it moves into its next phase of transforming payment reform. We believe that adoption of these goals is essential to improving cost, quality, and health equity objectives in support of value-based, person-centered care,” said Levine.

As a partner of the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN) and a member of its newly-launched CEO Forum, Levine is pledging his support for the organization’s goal of advancing healthcare payment reform.

The LAN is an active group of public and private healthcare leaders dedicated to revamping the American healthcare payment system. Instead of the traditional fee-for-service structure, the LAN advocates for alternative payment models (APMs) that offer incentives for high-quality and cost-efficient healthcare.

Alternative payment models, which includes shared savings, shared risk, bundled payments and population-based payments, incorporate quality and total cost of care into the amount of money healthcare providers are reimbursed for the care they provide patients.

Levine said Ballad Health is an ardent supporter of the movement toward alternative payment models with shared accountability, which means all stakeholders within the healthcare system, including patients, are responsible for and contribute to the success of patient outcomes.

On Aug. 21, 2019, Levine participated in the inaugural Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network CEO Forum in McLean, Virginia, where executives and clinical leaders from around the nation discussed different ways to advance payment models that reward providers for quality and value of care. 

“It is an honor to have been asked to serve with such influential leaders who can help move America’s health system forward,” Levine said. “As a member of the LAN’s CEO Forum, Ballad Health is proud to join a group of committed leaders in a shared effort to prioritize and execute key focus areas that can advance shared accountability for public and private payers around the adoption of alternative payment models.”

“With the right payment incentives in place, we are hopeful that we can accomplish many of the goals outlined by the LAN.”

Some of the focus areas identified during the CEO Forum include: addressing social determinants of health; reducing ineffective care and utilization; increasing data transparency and improving analytic capabilities; adopting enhanced technology; facilitating market-based solutions; and implementing new population-based approaches.

At the 2019 LAN Summit on Thursday in Washington, D.C., the LAN unveiled its new set of goals that outline the percentage of healthcare payments by type of payer it hopes will be tied to alternative payment models with shared accountability.

Those include:  

• Medicare Advantage & Traditional Medicare
  • 30% by 2020
  • 50% by 2022
  • 100% by 2025
• Medicaid & Commercial
  • 15% by 2020
  • 25% by 2022
  • 50% by 2025

For more information on these goals and the LAN organization, visit https://hcp-lan.org/.

About Ballad Health:

Ballad Health is an integrated healthcare delivery system serving 29 counties of Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwestern North Carolina and Southeastern Kentucky. Ballad Health was created in 2018 to improve the health of people in these regions. Ballad Health operates a family of 21 hospitals in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, including three tertiary medical centers, a dedicated children’s hospital, several community hospitals, three critical access hospitals, a behavioral health hospital, an addiction treatment facility, long-term care facilities, home care and hospice services, retail pharmacies, outpatient services and a comprehensive medical management corporation. Learn more about Ballad Health at www.BalladHealth.org.

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Meaghan Smith
Ballad Health
239-297-7959
[email protected]