Projects: Healthcare Management Analytics Lab

Value-based care, which rewards quality and outcomes, is now widely seen as the replacement for traditional procedure based fee-for-service systems. In a survey of 200 C-suite executives, 30% “agreed completely” that providers should immediately shift their focus from volume to value. Furthermore, the Affordable Care Act will introduce a value-based modifier to Medicare physician fee schedule payments.

In light of this growing trend towards value-based care, it has become increasingly important to demonstrate the care that is provided adds value. Orthopedics is one area where technological innovation has inarguably improved the lives of millions of Americans, but the comparative value of care across different procedures from the patient’s perspective has not been quantified. Project members will use MarketScan, a large national claims database, to deliver (1) models that estimate the returns to select knee surgery operations, assessing improvements in pain, mobility, and well being; and (2) test the validity of these models using data from University of Chicago Medicine (UCM). Students will gain expertise in using data to calculate performance benchmarks, a skill that can be widely applied to issues within and outside of healthcare.