A new study by the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network (LAN) found that over a third of healthcare payments in 2017 were tied to alternative payment models (APM) — up five percent from 2015.

The group found that APM payments topped $385.5 billion, representing a quickening national shift away from traditional fee-for-service healthcare payment models.

“The report’s findings reinforce our understanding that there is sustained, positive momentum in the effort to shift healthcare payments from traditional fee-for-service into value-based payments,” Mark McClellan, director of Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy and co-chair of LAN’s Guiding Committee, told RevCycleIntelligence‘s Jacqueline LaPointe.

However, downside-risk APMs are still outpaced by physicians’ interest in upside-only APMs. Only 12.5% of APM-linked payments were made under downside-risk models, while 21.1% were to upside-only plans.

“While we celebrate the increase in overall APM adoption, we also know further progress on payment reform will be important to ensure healthcare dollars flow through models that have more risk,” McClellan said.

Read more here, in RevCycleIntelligence.