By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    benefits of using protein powder to build muscles
    Protein Powder for Muscle Mass: Everything You Need to Know
    December 12, 2021
    changes brought on by blockchain in healthcare
    Technology In The Healthcare Industry
    March 28, 2022
    What Does Core Body Temperature Say About Health?
    August 17, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    FDA Approves Diabetes Pill
    May 2, 2011
    Patient Gets Drunk on Hand Sanitizer
    June 20, 2011
    Cultivating Health Improvement
    July 20, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Initiating a Bundled Payment Project
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Initiating a Bundled Payment Project
BusinessHospital Administration

Initiating a Bundled Payment Project

wellbeme
Last updated: June 17, 2014 9:36 pm
wellbeme
Share
5 Min Read
bundled payment for medical treatment
SHARE

bundled payment for medical treatment“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Laozi, Founder of Taosim

A bundled payment project has great potential to bring positive change to a provider organization. But like all change, it will cause disruption as this new model is designed and implemented. And like all such projects, planning from the outset goes a long way to ensure success.

bundled payment for medical treatment“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” – Laozi, Founder of Taosim

A bundled payment project has great potential to bring positive change to a provider organization. But like all change, it will cause disruption as this new model is designed and implemented. And like all such projects, planning from the outset goes a long way to ensure success.

More Read

Innovating Medicaid with the Medical Home Model
Reference Pricing and the Role of the Government
How Hospitals and Other Healthcare Providers Can Boost Employee Morale
Physician Specialists Exemptions and Achieving Meaningful Use: e-Learning Event
Getting Charged for Rework in a Hospital

Like all projects, someone needs to champion the effort. This is the person who will evangelize within the organization to get the budget, resources, and mindshare that will ensure project success. This person is often from finance or may be a clinician.

The project team needs to be broad since bundle design touches most areas of the organization. You’ll need to include everyone from finance to IT to compliance. An important lesson learned from other bundled payment initiatives is that clinical involvement is key from the start. This means including physicians, nurses, and other clinicians in significant roles where they can contribute to and drive the project. Bundled payment programs by definition will change care pathways so clinical “buy-in” is essential for success. Gaining clinical “buy-in” at an early stage attacks challenges on two fronts: First, financial – because unlike the traditional fee-for-service payment model, bundled payments do not engender the same billing potentials; and second, clinical – because the standardization of procedures and treatments need to be adopted by everyone to allow the bundled payment system to work. You will also find that your clinical staff has important insights in helping to drive efficiencies and cost savings.

Of course, you won’t know if you’re successful at the end unless you define success from the start. This means creating your success metrics from the beginning. Metrics in areas such as financial, clinical, and customer satisfaction will help you monitor how your program is working and where you can (continually) improve. For example, you may define readmission rates of <2% as a target.

Before establishing performance metrics, you’ll need to understand where things are today. This means you’ll need to establish baselines for all of your key performance metrics. You may already have some of these such as your readmission rate. But if you’re planning a total joint replacement program, can you identify your current readmission rate for those cases only? Perhaps you’d like to begin a customer satisfaction survey for your new program. In that case, you wouldn’t have a current baseline metric so you’d have to establish your own target (be reasonable). Your IT department will provide resources you’ll need for this and there are numerous software packages available to help support your effort.

Finally, bundled payment programs don’t work if you can’t understand your costs and keep them under control. For many healthcare organizations, this challenge is new. The area of cost control is probably the single most challenging part of bundled payment programs. Your finance team will be able to help but brining in outside consulting is common and you shouldn’t shy away from this. Strong consideration should be given to implementing formal cost management systems and processes (including new software).

The hardest part of getting started is… getting started. Bundled payment programs are great opportunities and the first ones in have a tremendous advantage over the competition. Join me for an upcoming free webinar on “A Practical Guide To Implementing Bundled Payment Programs” on July 15th. Click here to register.

by Sheldon Hamburger

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Dental health
May 21, 2025
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
Dental health
May 21, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025

You Might also Like

5 Points to Consider to Perfect Your Slide Title

March 16, 2014

Lessons from the Anthem Breach

February 12, 2015
stomach
DiagnosticsHospital Administration

When Should Doctors Turn Patients Away?

July 27, 2014

Hospital ER: Saturday Night Special?

October 25, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?