Methodology Article | | Peer-Reviewed

Achieving Healthcare Value through Care Plan Accountability

Received: 19 September 2024     Accepted: 30 October 2024     Published: 29 November 2024
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Abstract

U.S. medical costs continue to outpace the GDP despite the introduction of multiple accountable care efforts established to reduce unnecessary expenditures. These increasing costs have a negative impact on patients who are experiencing increased out-of-pocket expenses as well as employers who must shoulder a large part of the healthcare cost burden. While there are multiple societal factors contributing to the rising medical costs, our healthcare system can play a more effective role in addressing this problem. This role begins with fundamental changes to our reimbursement systems placing an emphasis on individual plans of care and adding greater accountability through free market controls. A comprehensive plan of care lays out the roles of care plan participants across medical, social, and behavioral services with a corresponding budget covering all the services provided as well as the expected outcomes from each service. An initial free market control is patient authority to accept or reject the plan of care with a corresponding financial responsibility for compliance in care plan execution. The elements of provider accountability include a public provider performance reporting system across quality, costs and patient satisfaction factors as well as a reimbursement system that incentivizes effective care planning and execution. This shift in focus from incremental care to care planning and execution combined with the institution of pro-competitive and financial accountability measures is expected to bring greater value to healthcare by improving patient outcomes while reducing medical costs.

Published in Science Journal of Public Health (Volume 12, Issue 6)
DOI 10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12
Page(s) 189-193
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Accountable Care, Competition, Free-Market Controls, Healthcare Value, Plan of Care, Reimbursement System, Transparent

References
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[2] Brown, Peter and Amin, Shilpa, MD. Medicare, and chronic care management: An overview. Medical News Today. July 29, 2024.
[3] By Matthew McGough, Jared Ortaliza, Emma Wager Twitter, and Cynthia Cox (August 20, 2024) What are trends in health utilization and spending in early 2024? Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker.
[4] Jacqueline A. Fiore, Andrew J. Madison, John A. Poisal, Gigi A. Cuckler, Sheila D. Smith, Andrea M. Sisko, Sean P. Keehan, Kathryn E. Rennie, and Alyssa C. Gross (June 12, 2024) National Health Expenditure Projections, 2023–32: Payer Trends Diverge as Pandemic-Related Policies Fade. Health Affairs, 43(7), 910-921.
[5] Vankar, Preeti. U.S. out-of-pocket health care payments annual change 2010-2022. Statista. May 22, 2024.
[6] David U. Himmelstein, MD, Robert M. Lawless, JD, Deborah Thorne, PhD, Pamela Foohey, JD, and Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH (March 2019) Medical Bankruptcy: Still Common Despite the Affordable Care Act. American Journal of Public Health, 109/3: 431-433.
[7] Palosky, Craig and Zeigenfuse, Emily. 2024 Employer Health Benefits Survey. KFF. Oct 9, 2024.
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[9] Shameek Rakshit, Matthew McGough, and Krutika Amin How does U.S. life expectancy compare to other countries? Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker. Jan 30, 2024.
[10] Benavidez GA, Zahnd WE, Hung P, and Eberth JM (Feb 29, 2024) Chronic Disease Prevalence in the US: Sociodemographic and Geographic Variations by Zip Code Tabulation Area. 21: 230-267
[11] Horstman, Celli. How U.S. Health Care Providers Are Addressing the Drivers of Health. The Commonwealth Fund. May 21, 2024.
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[14] Fast Facts: Health and Economic Costs of Chronic Conditions. CDC. July 12, 2024.
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Rezen, J. (2024). Achieving Healthcare Value through Care Plan Accountability. Science Journal of Public Health, 12(6), 189-193. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12

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    ACS Style

    Rezen, J. Achieving Healthcare Value through Care Plan Accountability. Sci. J. Public Health 2024, 12(6), 189-193. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12

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    AMA Style

    Rezen J. Achieving Healthcare Value through Care Plan Accountability. Sci J Public Health. 2024;12(6):189-193. doi: 10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12,
      author = {John Rezen},
      title = {Achieving Healthcare Value through Care Plan Accountability
    },
      journal = {Science Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {12},
      number = {6},
      pages = {189-193},
      doi = {10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.sjph.20241206.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.sjph.20241206.12},
      abstract = {U.S. medical costs continue to outpace the GDP despite the introduction of multiple accountable care efforts established to reduce unnecessary expenditures. These increasing costs have a negative impact on patients who are experiencing increased out-of-pocket expenses as well as employers who must shoulder a large part of the healthcare cost burden. While there are multiple societal factors contributing to the rising medical costs, our healthcare system can play a more effective role in addressing this problem. This role begins with fundamental changes to our reimbursement systems placing an emphasis on individual plans of care and adding greater accountability through free market controls. A comprehensive plan of care lays out the roles of care plan participants across medical, social, and behavioral services with a corresponding budget covering all the services provided as well as the expected outcomes from each service. An initial free market control is patient authority to accept or reject the plan of care with a corresponding financial responsibility for compliance in care plan execution. The elements of provider accountability include a public provider performance reporting system across quality, costs and patient satisfaction factors as well as a reimbursement system that incentivizes effective care planning and execution. This shift in focus from incremental care to care planning and execution combined with the institution of pro-competitive and financial accountability measures is expected to bring greater value to healthcare by improving patient outcomes while reducing medical costs.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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