Montefiore Health System today hosted a visit by Sylvia M. Burwell, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, New York State Deputy Secretary for Health Courtney Burke, and State Medicaid Director Jason Helgerson. Montefiore’s President and CEO Steven M. Safyer, M.D., hosted the event at Montefiore Medical Group’s Bronx East site, focusing on the value-based model of patient care widely practiced at Montefiore’s more than 150 primary and specialty care centers and eight hospitals throughout the Bronx and Westchester. That philosophy of care bases payments to providers on patient health outcomes rather than the number of visits or procedures performed.
 
Safyer, who noted that Montefiore has been a national leader in value-based care for two decades, applauded Secretary Burwell’s commitment to transfer 90% of Medicare reimbursements to value-based systems by 2018, and specifically to have 50% of payments in alternative payment models by 2018. He also congratulated New York State for moving Medicaid reimbursements in a similar direction, and announced that Montefiore Health System has set a goal by 2018 of 100% value-based payments from Medicare and Medicaid.
 
“Value-based care, at its core, means that when our patients do well and we provide affordable health care we get rewarded. That is as it should be,” Safyer told reporters.

 As evidence of the promise of the value-based approach, Safyer cited the success of Montefiore’s Pioneer Accountable Care Organization, the only system of its kind in New York State. “We helped 25,000 seniors better manage chronic diseases and improve their quality of life, and reduced Medicare costs by 7% in each of the past two years.”
 
During today’s event, Safyer and other Montefiore leaders conducted a tour of Bronx East that exemplified the patient-centered coordinated care offered there – including an area where adults can receive their primary care alongside other services such as diabetes counseling, and a location where behavioral health services for children are just steps away from the pediatrician’s exam room. In that setting, children can see both their pediatricians and receive behavioral care during a single visit. This approach enables caregivers to identify and intervene on behavioral issues early, at a time when they are most effectively addressed.   
 
“This approach is the future of health care,” said Safyer, “and it’s working.”