As we are often reminded, the United States spends much more money on healthcare than other developed nations, without the results to show for it. The culprit most cited is our fee-for-service model, which rewards healthcare providers for the volume of healthcare provided, rather than the quality. In response, the federal government has leveraged its purchasing power through Medicare and Medicaid to implement programs that better align payments to quality, encouraging a shift from volume-based payment models to alternative payment models linked to value.

There have been several alternative payment models introduced in this decade, many a result of the Affordable Care Act. Given the recent flurry of new payment models, and changes taking place with the new administration, we have written our Alternative Payment Models in Healthcare report to help keep track of many of the developments. This report summarizes some of the most important alternative payment models that have been introduced over the past several years, and is meant to serve as a primer for healthcare staffing firms that wish to better understand the risks and opportunities these models present to their clients.