Development of a Plan to Transition to a Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program for Physician and Other Professional Services – Issues Paper  

December, 2008  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has articulated a vision for health care; quality the right care for every person every time. To accomplish this vision, CMS is committed to care that is safe, effective, timely, patient-centered, efficient, and equitable. Medicare's current fee-for-service payment systems, which pay on the basis of quantity and consumption of resources, do not support this vision for quality health care. Value-based purchasing (VBP) aligns payment more directly to the quality and efficiency of care provided by rewarding providers for their measured performance across the dimensions of . . .