The barriers to harnessing data to accelerate the transition to value-based care

Real-world evidence can be a driving force behind value-based payments, but the healthcare system has a ways to go before that is a reality, experts said. 

Mark McClellan, former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and former administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said that the industry still hasn’t gotten to the root of the problem: Healthcare in the U.S. is still not effectively configured—with or without data—to proactively identify and meet patient needs. 

“We’ve got a healthcare system that’s really good at taking care of people who can afford it when they get sick,” he said. “We don’t have a healthcare system that’s good at identifying who’s at risk before they come in.”