Understanding and Preparing for Value-Based Care: A Primer for Behavioral Health Providers

Insurance companies and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services are shifting from reimbursing health providers a fixed amount for a service to reimbursement based in part on patients' outcomes. This approach is called value-based care (VBC) and includes a wide range of programs. Although the behavioral health providers that have been impacted by VBC to date are primarily those in larger health systems, use of VBC is expanding as payors seek to combat rising health care costs and increase transparency and accountability for health services. Thus, behavioral health providers need to know about VBC models and their impact as well as steps they can take to be better prepared for this shift.