On January 26, 2015, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced measurable goals and a timeline to move the Medicare program and the American health care system at large toward a "better, smarter, healthier" system in which payment to providers would be based on the quality, rather than the quantity, of care provided to patients.1
A report published by the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN) in October 20182 showed that, in 2017, 34% of US health care payments across all payer types—representing nearly 226.3 million people, or 77% of the covered US population—were tied to alternative payment models (APMs) based on value. Although that number constituted a "steady" increase from 23% 2 years earlier, it seemed clear that HHS's goal of 50% APMs by the end of 2018 would not be met.
Why is it that even though 90% of payers expect APM adoption to accelerate, according to the LAN report, progress to date has lagged? The report cited the following as the top 3 challenges to APM adoption: willingness to take on financial risk, ability to operationalize these models, and interest or readiness of providers.
