Harvard, RAND-backed provider payment model to be tested

An evidence-based healthcare payment model driven by researchers at RAND Corporation and the Harvard School of Public Health will be rolled out in January at four pilot test sites with funding from a $6.4 million grant. 

The project, dubbed Prometheus--for payment reform for outcomes, margins, evidence, transparency, hassle-reduction, understandability and sustainability--is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Payments will be built around a total amount to be paid to all providers for a patient's condition. The project includes 12 evidence-based case rates, which included input from health insurers, employers, physicians and others through a not-for-profit collaboration.

The payment scheme will be kicked off in Rockford, Ill., and Minneapolis, with two other sites still to be announced. HealthPartners, a not-for-profit health plan, will run the project in Minneapolis, and employers will test the model with providers in Rockford.

To learn more about the project:
- read this article from Modern Healthcare (reg. req.)

Related Articles:
Pushing the envelope on evidence-based medicine
Geisinger offers flat-fee surgery package