Through the State-Led Evaluation Plan, Vermont proposes to answer research questions in three topical areas, all key to Vermont’s progress towards achieving an integrated delivery system that rewards value-based care:
Care Integration and Coordination: Integrated care is a key feature of many SIM-funded activities, and a major activity contributing to the goals of improving patient experience, improving population health, and reducing the per capita cost of health care. Understanding the approaches that are most effective is critical to guide scaling up effective innovations related to care integration and coordination.
Use of Clinical and Economic Data to Promote Value-Based Care: Data collection, aggregation, sharing, analysis and utilization play pivotal roles in Vermont’s efforts to transform its health system. It is important to understand the ways in which providers interpret, perceive and use data in order to ensure that needed data is provided accurately and effectively.
Payment Reform and Incentive Structures: For successful payment reform structures to take hold, it is important to understand providers’ awareness of financial and non-financial incentive structures, how payment reform impacts care delivery (including integration and coordination of care), and attitudes toward incentives and practice transformation.