AMA develops payment guides for new care models

(HealthDay)—The American Medical Association (AMA) has developed new tools to aid physicians in understanding payment arrangements in evolving fee-for-value care models.

The AMA has new resources to guide physicians through appropriate payments systems for new models of care. The guide is entitled Where do I fit in? Dividing the pie in new payment models. It focuses on two emerging types of fee-for-value payment models: global budgets and episode-based bundles.

According to the AMA, the guide includes information on identifying who and what services should be included in a fee-for-value payment model. Other topics include: risk-based guidelines; incorporation of new payment models into governance and organization; alignment models that enable fee-for-value compensation; and different payment options. Case studies, offering examples from real practices of how payments in new models can be divided, are also included. A webinar, scheduled for May 13 at 7 p.m. Eastern time, will discuss organizational principles and governing structures to ensure physicians have a seat at the table when the "payment pie" is divided.

"As the transition toward value-based payments continues, all health care stakeholders will need to balance the use of nationally recognized and standardized measures with a more flexible approach that enables local providers to identify measures and targets, as well as payment mechanisms that take into account their unique circumstances," the AMA Council on Medical Service stated in a report issued at the AMA Interim Meeting in November.