Bundled payments for a limited number of surgical procedures produced a savings of 10.7 percent among privately insured patients according to a study by the RAND Corporation.
For the study, participants working for self-insured employers who received three types of surgery – total knee and hip replacement, spinal fusion, and bariatric weight-loss procedures – were offered the opportunity to have those procedures without cost-sharing in exchange for undergoing surgery by specific providers that agreed to accept a bundled payment for the procedure and 30 days of post-surgical care. The result was a savings of 10.7 percent in costs, 85 percent of which was retained by the employer, while patients saved an average of nearly $500.
Learn more about the study from this RAND Corporation news release and the study itself, “An Employer-Provider Direct Payment Program Is Associated With Lower Episode Costs,” published in the journal Health Affairs.