Improvement requires evaluation of programs & initiatives. We utilize rigorous methods to evaluate programs and their impact on clinical, quality, and cost outcomes.

 

VSSL members have led large-scale evaluations of quality- and value-based payment and delivery programs, and their impact on patients. Examples of this work:

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Program: Bundled payments (prominent payment model for improving the value of care)

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Examples: Over the last 5 years, VSSL Director Dr. Joshua Liao and colleagues have been at the forefront of using advanced statistical methods to evaluate the impact of nationwide bundled payment programs.

As a part of this portfolio of work, Dr. Liao and colleagues recently used advanced econometric methods to evaluate the long-term association between hospital participation in joint replacement bundles and quality,  and cost outcomes. Main findings included:

 

* 1.6% differential decrease in average episode spending

* These savings were driven by early, not late, participants

* No differential changes in quality outcomes

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In a separate study, Dr. Liao and colleagues evaluated how hospital co-participation in (i.e., simultaneous participation in both) joint replacement bundles and accountable care organizations impacted outcomes. They found that compared to hospitals bundling joint replacement only, those co-participating in joint bundles and accountable care organizations had differential changes in 90-day unplanned readmissions and post-discharge care utilization patterns. 

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From Liao JM, et al. Association of Bundled Payments for Joint Replacement Surgery and Patient Outcomes With Simultaneous Hospital Participation in Accountable Care Organizations. JAMA Network Open. 2019. 

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Program: (coming soon)

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Examples: (coming soon)

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