Longitudinal Patient Care Remains a Challenge Despite Commitment to Value-Based Care Delivery Competencies

Provider organizations' ability to deliver longitudinal value-based care for patients remains a work in progress.

Survey results from the 2017 HealthLeaders Media Value-Based Readiness: Setting the Right Pace survey reveal that the majority of respondents currently demonstrate a broad commitment to developing care delivery competencies to prepare for value-based care.

For example, the top three care delivery areas that respondents say that their organization has committed to developing or has already developed competencies to prepare for value-base care are care coordination/guiding patients to appropriate care (79%), clinical integration (73%), and broader access to care (68%), and the top five areas all receive a response greater than 65%.

On the other hand, longitudinal patient care (40%) is low on the list of responses and is the only area below a 50% response, although its result is up nine points over last year’s survey.

The response for this critical area indicates the early stage at which most respondents currently reside in the transition to value-based care.

Note that as providers continue to commit to developing care delivery competencies to prepare for value-based care, longitudinal patient care will play an increasingly important role as providers manage patient care over longer periods of time and across multiple care settings.

Survey results also reveal that respondents are confident in their ability to deliver value-based care within the various areas of care delivery.

For example, 73% say that their level of ability is very strong (20%) or somewhat strong (53%) for broader access to care, 72% say that their level of ability is very strong (21%) or somewhat strong (51%) for clinical integration, and 72% say that their level of ability is very strong (20%) or somewhat strong (52%) for care coordination/guiding patients to appropriate care.

However, longitudinal patient care receives the lowest rating for respondent organizations' ability to deliver value-based care in this area. For example, 54% of respondents indicate that this is very weak (11%) or somewhat weak (43%), an indication that it remains a work in progress for respondents.