Risk-Based Agreements: Good for Business, Patients

As the COVID-19 pandemic has deepened the financial and psychological challenges for practices, the idea of taking on the risk of a value-based care model may seem like an incredibly high hurdle in the current climate. Yet this is precisely the time to appreciate the substantial benefits that risk-based agreements offer both patients and practices.

When constructed properly, risk-based agreements reward practices that double-down on care management strategies that improve patient outcomes and stabilize practice reimbursement as they lower overall health costs. That’s because, unlike traditional fee-for-service (FFS) models that reimburse based on service volume, risk agreements’ compensation structure pays practices for proactively managing key clinical factors and patient conditions, such as diabetes or smoking habits.