The process of modeling value-based contracts can be painstaking. Acquiring the insights needed to arrange contracts that simultaneously drive better quality while reducing unnecessary costs takes time and resources. Combined with payers historically driving the value-based contracting process, providers are often left to be reactive when it comes to negotiating contracts instead of proactively modeling favorable contract scenarios for themselves.
Considering all the variables and moving parts inherent in modeling value-based contracts, its advantageous for provider organizations to streamline the process as much as possible. Fortunately, the data revolution in healthcare has introduced solutions that make it possible to automate contract modeling, relieving providers of time, resources, and stress.
Here are seven benefits that providers can expect to receive when automating the process of value-based contracting:
- Efficiency- Value-based contracts are complex and they take time and resources. Often, access to supplemental data is difficult to acquire and even more difficult to fold into models. Automating contract modeling reduces the time to model agreements from a week or more down to about 30 minutes, allowing you to dedicate your valuable time and resources to other areas of your organization that may need attention.
- Simplicity- Extend the capabilities of your scarce and valuable actuarial and medical economics resources. With the right data at your fingertips, you can model a value-based contract with the right automated solution in place. Automation not only saves you time, but also helps you to better understand the terms of the contract.
- Accuracy- There are a host of variables when modeling value-based contracts. Claims variables, attribution variables, performance variables, and much more. Automating contract modeling codifies the variables and helps you quickly generate highly accurate models within a proven methodology and construct.
- Consistency- As your value-based arrangements expand, it’s easy to get lost with different performance metrics, different criteria, and multiple contract parameters. Automated contract modeling helps curb the variability inherent in manual contract modeling efforts. Using algorithms that rely on historical contracting data, automation helps to reduce the inaccuracy caused by human error.
- Permanency- Contractual context from year to year is critical. An automated contract modeling solution provides a repository for all your agreements and a historical record of contract terms considered and executed. The more historical contracting data you compile over time, the more reliable and accurate your contract modeling will be.
- Compliance- Every payer organization has to manage standard contract terms as well as evolving internal policies and procedures. Contract modeling automation ensures those terms, policies, and procedures are followed across all contracts, year after year.
- Transparency and Collaboration- Value-based contracts between payers and providers require a new level of transparency and collaboration. Payers want to share their methods and assumptions with providers. Automated contract modeling makes this process simple and ensures alignment at the onset of every agreement between both parties.
Automation is the future of value-based contract modeling, so keeping these benefits in mind will help you and your provider organization takes steps to operationalize automation.
Interested in learning more about automated contracting solutions? Check out our VBP Contract Navigator for providers.
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