Overview

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The way we currently pay our care providers lead to suboptimal outcomes and unnecessary spending. Consequently, we fail to maximize the value of our health care services. We need to change provider payment models in order to keep health care systems financial sustainability. Doing nothing is not an option. But the question is, how do we do it? During this course, we will discuss the rationale for payment reforms and dive into the key design elements of Alternative Payment Models (APMs) and how they change care provider incentives. You will learn about a roadmap to design and implement APMs on your own. You will learn about behavioural economics and human behaviour which are essential to advance the design and implementation of APMs. After the course you can apply your sharpened skills to lead change in health care via innovative payment models in order to increase value of health care services. This course is targeted at a variety of professionals in the healthcare sector in order to realise a common language. Are you a provider, board member, working at a public or private payer or researcher working in the health sector, this course is relevant for you! This Course is part of the to-be-developed Leiden University master program Population Health Management. If you wish to find out more about this program see the last reading of this Course!

Syllabus

Welcome to Alternative Payment Models

Welcome to the course Alternative Payment models! You’re joining thousands of learners currently enrolled in the course. I'm excited to have you in class and look forward to your contributions to the learning community. To begin, I recommend taking a few minutes to explore the course site. Review the material we’ll cover each week, and preview the assignments you’ll need to complete to pass the course. Click Discussions to see forums where you can discuss the course material with fellow students taking the class. If you have questions about course content, please post them in the forums to get help from others in the course community. For technical problems with the Coursera platform, visit the Learner Help Center. Good luck as you get started, and I hope you enjoy the course!

Why do we need payment reforms?

Why do we need payment reforms? In this module you will learn why payment reforms are useful to increase value of health care services and what the conceptual considerations behind alternative payment models are in general. Moreover, we will back you up with some empirical evidence that providers do respond to changes in financial incentives; both in desired and undesired ways....

What is an Alternative Payment Model?

What is an Alternative Payment Model? In this module we take a closer look at the most prominent APMs; pay for performance, shared savings models, bundled payment and capitation. We will look at the incentives that are linked with each APM-type and the way by which they shift financial accountability.

How to implement Alternative Payment Models?

How to design and implement an APM? In this module you will learn about the roadmap for designing and implementing APMs. You will take a more indepth dive in the six steps of the roadmap. You will gain essential knowledge for designing and implementing APMs yourself!

The role of behavioural economics within APMs

APMs aim to change provider behaviour. Understanding human behaviour is therefore essential. In this module, you will learn about the universal lessons of behavioural economics relevant for designing and implementing APMs, like loss aversion, hyperbolic discounting and nudging. Good luck with your final week!