Finding Your Value-Based Care Partner

A couple of years ago, KLAS published a perception report called Healthcare Management Consulting 2018. For one aspect of the report, we asked executives about the areas in which they might need help from services firms—value-based care transformation; financial improvement; strategy, growth, and consolidation; and consumer experience improvement. Value-base care (VBC) transformation turned out to be the number one concern for most of the executives, but when asked about specific firms, many of the executives couldn’t come up with names. So we decided to drill down into that space and share performance information on the firms, resulting in KLAS’ recently published Value-Based Care Consulting 2019 report. 

VBC transformation is about determining where an organization is, what they need to do, and how they can improve. In other words, it’s about getting to the right place.

Breaking Down the Data

As is common within the healthcare services space, the firms represented in the report performed really well overall. Nearly every firm scored above 90 (out of 100), so there isn’t much differentiation from that perspective. Therefore, we wanted to tell a story and look at how consistently each firm delivers. The report breaks down the firms by categories such as the kind of work they do, the complexity of the work, what kinds of organizations each firm works with, and what types of tasks or advice each firm gives.

On one side of the spectrum, four of the represented firms do complex work, are seen as trusted partners, and work with executives in planning. On the other side are firms that really focus on solving specific problems within the transformation area. They are not necessarily all-purpose partners, but they answer questions and provide guidance. And some firms somewhere in the middle.

As an example, Milliman is all about risk management, and they provide actuarial services. They provide critical data that can keep organizations from overextending and losing money, but they don’t go beyond that scope with big-picture strategies and advice on how to change culture and processes.

Using the Data

Even firms can look at the tactical data to see who is or isn’t meeting expectations and to understand why. Does this data represent who we are as a firm? Do we want to do more or less with a certain type of work? Are we translating our clients’ money into positive outcomes? 

But as a provider, the first question to ask yourself is what kind of help you want. Do you have a large budget? Transformation firms can help you get a jump start and look at the big picture. If you are already moving forward, you might just have a need for more specific help, such as data. Maybe you have a smaller budget or just need someone to advise you on building your provider network. You might just need to know whether a VBC contract with a payer is risky. 

The flow of the report is designed to guide the reader through this selection process—the who and what, the consistency, the outcomes, and the factors within those outcomes. To read the full story behind the performance of these firms, check out the full report.

     Photo cred: Adobe Stock, ty