GAO: Quality hasn't improved in three years under VBP program

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examining the first three years of Hospital Value-based Purchasing (VBP) program found modest financial benefits for hospitals and no apparent change in quality of care.

In that time, the bonuses and penalties received by most of the approximately 3,000 hospitals eligible for the VBP program totaled less than 0.5% of applicable Medicare payments each year. Meanwhile, the GAO found no shift in existing trends in hospital performance on the quality measures included in the program. The report said shifts in quality trends could occur in the future as the program continues to evolve.

Read the GAO report.