Journal of cardiac failure
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In response to wide variation in quality and outcomes as well as escalating health care costs, the U. S. health care system is moving away from a volume-based payment system to a quality- and value-based system. Medicare, the largest insurer and payer of health care, has accelerated the movement toward value-based care with the development and implementation of myriad alternate payment models and pay-for-performance programs as part of the Affordable Care Act. ⋯ Finally, ACOs encourage active population health management across the continuum of care as providers bear financial risk for enrolled patients. Given broader discussions about health care reform, the specific policies and programs meant to accelerate the transition from volume to value may be altered. However, the underlying drivers for reform will persist, and heart failure is a clinical condition that by comparison will be subject to greater scrutiny.