Part I: Value-Based Evolutions in 2024

In the ever-evolving landscape of healthcare, the approach to managing chronic conditions has witnessed a significant transformation in recent years. As of 2023, the concept of value-based care for chronic conditions has emerged as a pivotal force, reshaping the way patients, providers, and payers collaborate to improve the quality of care and reduce costs. The concept has been evolving for decades, and there is great reason to be excited about the potential impact. However, there are miles to go before we see a broad application of the concept. Leadership capacity is arguably the most important ingredient.

Transformation capacity must extend beyond the traditional expertise built within a single lane of care. The Parnassus Group and its sister initiative, the Palladium Forum, are taking unique steps to identify adaptive traits early in an executive search process. They ensure that the best organizations have access to the right leaders who are not only expanding their vision but also enhancing their personal capacity to navigate adaptive uncertainty.

Because value-based care revolves around a fundamental shift from the traditional fee-for-service model to one that emphasizes quality, outcomes, and patient satisfaction, it has required a pivot for many healthcare leaders. These leaders have built their mindset and their team’s objectives on efficiencies and patterns established by fee-for-service modalities. The adaptive challenges of this shift for chronic conditions, which account for a substantial portion of healthcare spending, are probably the most pronounced. This is because many of the critical engagements with patients occur within the circle of intimacy where a personal care provider and care counselor are most effective. Conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and asthma require long-term management, and value-based care has proven to be a promising solution for addressing these challenges, utilizing technology as a backbone. However, many conditions, like kidney care, exist alongside multiple chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, making the calculus a little more complicated. Provider organizations are stepping into full-risk arrangements, and in doing so, they have to partner with reliable specialty solutions for the accompanying conditions.

In the second part of this series, we will examine the critical role of patient engagement and what AI and other tech approaches can do to provide liberty and insight to patients and their families.