Two faculty in the COPH Department of Health Policy and Management, Joe Thompson, M.D., MPH, and Bill Golden, M.D., MACP, were quoted in an April 18 story in the Los Angeles Times about the payment reform in Arkansas, “How a healthcare revolution came to one red state while the Obamacare battle raged on.”
William Golden, M.D., MACP, Professor of Medicine and Public Health (Department of Health Policy and Management), has been named Co-chair of the Primary Care workgroup of the Health Care Payment Learning Action Network (HCPLAN).
The HCPLAN is an initiative of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Alliance to Modernize Health Care, the federally funded research and development center operated by the MITRE Corporation.
The HCPLAN established its national Guiding Committee in May 2015 as the collaborative body charged with advancing alignment of payment approaches across and within the private and public sectors. This alignment aims to accelerate the adoption and dissemination of meaningful financial incentives to reward providers and systems of care that implement person-centered care and patient-responsive delivery systems.
In keeping with the goals of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the HCPLAN aims to have 30 percent of US health care payments in alternative payment models (APMs) or population-based payments by 2016, and 50 percent by 2018. One possibility for reform is a move away from fee-for-service payments to APMs, such as population-based payments in which providers accept accountability for total cost of care, care quality, and health outcomes for a patient population across the full care continuum. This is a particularly promising approach for creating and sustaining a delivery system that values quality, cost effectiveness, and patient engagement.
Dr. Golden also serves on the HCPLAN’s national Guiding Committee. He is the Medical Director for Arkansas DHS/Medicaid.