Professor Stephen Shortell highlights in his recent invited commentary in JAMA Network Open that while the vertical integration of hospitals and physician practices is an irreversible trend driven heavily by doctors seeking financial viability, it has historically resulted in higher costs and prices without a consistent rise in healthcare quality or patient access. Because price regulations alone fail to address these outcomes, Shortell argues that policymakers must instead focus on leveraging the structural advantages of integrated health systems. He proposes a three-pronged policy approach to guide these large systems toward public benefit: increasing state and federal investments in primary care, accelerating the transition to risk-adjusted global value-based payment models to incentivize preventive care, and implementing strict transparency and performance data mandates. Shortell urges federal and state regulators to harness the substantial resource capabilities of these vertically integrated networks to cultivate a healthcare ecosystem that delivers on affordability, enhanced access, and improved patient outcomes.
Read the full commentary here.