One of the tools many states are using to attempt to reduce their Medicaid costs and improve the quality of the care delivered to their Medicaid beneficiaries is value-based purchasing.

In a new issue brief, the National Association of Medicaid Directors takes a closer look at Medicaid value-based purchasing:  what it is, how it works, why it is attractive to state Medicaid programs, what alternative payment models the states are employing as part of their value-based purchasing efforts, and what state Medicaid programs need from the federal government to continue such efforts.

Because private safety-net hospitals care for so many more Medicaid patients than the typical hospital, changes in delivery and payment models have an especially large impact on them.

For a closer look at Medicaid value-based purchasing, go here to read the National Association of Medicaid Directors’ issue brief “Medicaid Value-based Purchasing:  What Is It & Why Does It Matter?”