Health care is virtually unanimous on one thing: Value-based care is our destiny, as it very much should be. But the journey toward that destiny has been challenging, and we are far from arrival yet.
Since the term was coined nearly two decades ago, the value-based care policy pendulum
has frequently swung between efficiency and outcomes. This dichotomy makes sense because value and outcomes are not at all synonymous. Value is a balance between low costs (efficiency) and maximum outcomes. High-quality health care that people can’t afford is worthless – so is efficient “care” with poor outcomes.
