Through its PATH program, which annually rewards physicians who meet certain performance-based criteria, UnitedHealthcare awarded approximately $1.2 million in bonus payments to 30 Arizona care providers named winners of the PATH Excellence in Patient Service Awards. Care providers who earned recognition as a UnitedHealthcare PATH Excellence in Patient Service Award winner have effectively engaged their patients and encouraged them to access important preventive health care services. This helps to improve health outcomes for members by identifying and treating health issues at an early stage, before they have an opportunity to intensify and lead to costly complications that have a negative impact on the individual’s quality of life.
The PATH program is part of UnitedHealthcare’s commitment to help shift the nation’s health care system to one that rewards quality and value instead of the volume of procedures performed. Although designed for care providers treating UnitedHealthcare’s Medicare Advantage members, it is just one part of the company’s value-based approach to health care, and is designed to accommodate a variety of provider groups and physician practices, ranging from individual doctors to integrated health systems. It is comprised of four components: Patient support and communication, actionable patient data and reporting, financial compensation for doctors, and practice-based support.
Care providers nationwide are showing strong interest in a shift to value-based care. With a full spectrum of value-based initiatives (www.AccountableCareAnswers.com), UnitedHealthcare has nearly tripled its total payments to physicians and hospitals that are tied to value-based arrangements in the last three years to $38 billion. By the end of 2018, UnitedHealthcare expects that figure to reach $65 billion.
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