Paying Doctors For Value, Not Volume: Cornerstone Health Care Changes Its Business Model

Three years ago, Cornerstone Health Care in High Point laid out a plan to change how it cares for patients, and perhaps just as importantly, how it gets paid to deliver that care.

The independent physician group based in High Point, the largest in the Triad, unveiled plans for a radical break from the traditional model that pays doctors on volume, not value.

“This is part of a shift to a data based approach to medicine that really focuses on identifying those patients who are most at risk for catastrophic and very expensive medical conditions,” says Owen Covington, a reporter with the Triad Business Journal. “It's a move away from the fee for service environment where doctors are just paid for the number of services that they provide.”

Cornerstone's work force has swelled from 1,505 at the end of 2011 to 1,864 at the start of 2015. The 70 practice locations three years ago have grown to more than 110.

According to Covington's cover story in the Triad Business Journal, this was a path Cornerstone President and CEO Dr. Grace Terrell believed was the only way to counter an unsustainable health care system plagued by skyrocketing costs. But he says not everyone agrees with this model.

“It's a very primary care focused approach, so a lot of these specialists might not see the financial incentive to become involved in something like this. Cornerstone estimates they are going to lose 15 percent of their physician population from this from folks that leave the practice just because they are not interested in that model,” says Covington.

The Business Report on 88.5 WFDD is a partnership with the Triad Business Journal. You'll find Owen Covington's story and more breaking business news at Triad.Bizjournals.com.

Justin Catanoso is director of the Journalism program at Wake Forest University and a regular contributor to 88.5 WFDD.

Follow Keri Brown on Twitter @kerib_news