Value-Based Care Strategy Forum 2026

In this dynamic and rapidly evolving environment, it is critical to understand the trends that will impact the future and care delivery and payment. Throughout this presentation, Seth Edwards will explore the macro trends impacting the movement to value-based care and payment models and illustrate the implications for hospital and health system strategy.

• Define the major value-based care and population health trends impacting healthcare providers.
• Understand the impact of non-traditional entrance on the evolution of healthcare.
• Be able to translate those trends into strategic imperatives to develop a strategic and operational approach to prepare for future health care models.

In this panel moderated by Edward Prewitt of NEJM Catalyst, you’ll hear from two health system leaders experienced in implementing value-based care (VBC). The speakers and discussion will give you the insider view on the necessary steps to enact VBC, the inevitable pitfalls, and the keys to success. Learn why you should embrace VBC; what the term really means for providers, payers, and patients; and how to structure your approach optimally.

Take a comprehensive look into achieving healthier employees and lower costs through value-based care. Learn how to leverage data, digital platforms, and predictive analytics to streamline care, boost engagement, and drive measurable, outcome-driven results. This session will also explore how to use insights from technology and social determinants of health to close care gaps and personalize health journeys.

• Unlock the Power of Value-Based Care: The formula behind healthier employees and lower costs—where aligned incentives, smarter care models, and outcome-driven strategies converge to deliver lasting impact
• Leverage Technology for Smarter Health: Explore how data, digital tools, and integrated platforms streamline care, boost engagement, and personalize health journeys
• Learn how predictive analytics and social determinants of health drive strategy, close gaps, and deliver measurable results

Get inspired in this rapid-fire showcase of breakthrough AI, care management, and analytics solutions. See how leading innovators are driving measurable results in value-based care—then leave with fresh ideas, contacts, and tools you can put to work immediately.

• Identify emerging technologies and services that directly impact quality, cost, and patient outcomes in value-based care
• Evaluate how AI, care management, and analytics tools can integrate into existing EHR systems and workflows for maximum efficiency
• Apply strategies and vendor insights from the showcase to accelerate operational performance and organizational ROI

As health systems and payers face rising complexity and costs, data science is reshaping population health management. This panel discussion will explore how advanced analytics, predictive modeling, and precision targeting are transforming the way high-need, high-cost patients are identified and supported with more personalized, proactive, and effective care. Panelists will share real-world examples of data-driven approaches that improve outcomes, reduce avoidable utilization, and advance sustainable value-based care.

• Understand how advanced data science techniques improve the prediction and early identification of high-needs patients most at risk for adverse outcomes
• Explore practical strategies for integrating predictive insights into care management workflows to drive timely, personalized interventions
• Assess how AI can strengthen targeting to reduce wasteful spending, close quality gaps, and advance health equity, while identifying key considerations for scaling these approaches

CMS Stars, HEDIS, and payer quality measures are central to the financial and clinical success of health plans. They drive billions in bonus payments, shape member experience, and signal market competitiveness. Yet, achieving strong results is fraught with pitfalls — from member abrasion to shifting regulatory standards. In this session, payer and technology leaders will explore how data, predictive analytics, and value-based strategies are being used to close care gaps, improve performance, and earn Stars bonuses. Panelists will also discuss the operational and cultural challenges of chasing measures while ensuring sustainable improvements in care delivery.

• Understand the role of CMS Stars, HEDIS, and other quality measures in driving payer performance and plan bonuses
• Explore real-world approaches to using analytics, member engagement, and partnerships to improve quality performance
• Identify pitfalls such as measure overload, audit risk, and member abrasion — and strategies to avoid them

This session explores contemporary best practices in value-based care, drawing from leading health systems, ACOs, and CINs. We will highlight proven strategies that improve quality, reduce total cost of care, and engage patients across diverse populations. Attendees will leave with actionable insights to accelerate VBC success within their own organizations.

• Identify the core design elements and operational practices that distinguish high-performing value-based care organizations
• Examine real-world case studies that demonstrate measurable improvements in outcomes, equity, and cost efficiency
• Develop a framework to apply best practices in governance, care delivery, and technology enablement to local VBC initiatives

Social determinants affect patients across all demographics, often creating barriers to effective care delivery and patient engagement. Tackling these complex challenges demands a strategic, multi-dimensional approach. In this session, discover how one accountable care organization is leveraging innovative technology to identify social needs early and connect patients with vital community resources.

• Explore how social needs influence healthcare utilization and costs
• Identify effective strategies for engaging patients in addressing their social determinants
• Understand a technology-enabled, regionwide collaboration model that partners with community benefit organizations to close resource gaps

Value-based care (VBC) has been heralded as a transformative approach to align incentives, improve outcomes, and reduce costs. Yet, in practice, the focus often narrows to what can be measured — STARS ratings, HEDIS measures, and quality metrics. While these tools are important, they risk reducing patients to scores and providers to box-checkers. This session will explore how to re-center value-based care around its core: the patient. Dr. Priya Mammen will illustrate how incorporating patient voices and embedding clinical integrity safeguards against the pitfalls of metric-driven care. Participants will learn how to design systems that honor lived experience, recognize social determinants, and build trust – without losing the rigor of accountability. By the end of this session, you will:

• Recognize the risks of an overly metrics-driven approach in VBC (e.g., patient reductionism, clinician disengagement).
• Identify strategies to meaningfully integrate patient voices into the design and evaluation of value-based models.
• Apply principles of clinical integrity to ensure that VBC initiatives remain patient-centered and equitable.

This session will summarize how to implement integrated technology platforms that reduce care fragmentation, streamline PCP decision-making processes, and enhance coordination across the care team to improve patient outcomes and reduce total cost of care.

• Describe how to optimize technology tools to support seamless care coordination between disciplines, and how to use technology to incentivize and track chronic care management effectiveness
• Summarize how technology reduces decision-making burden on PCPs while preserving their clinical authority and team leadership responsibilities
• Explain how to quantify the return on investment and clinical outcomes of enhanced care coordination investments

This lively, multi-perspective discussion/debate will explore the current dynamics in delivering value-based care with a focus on Medicare, Medicaid, and underserved populations. Frontline executives will share their real-time experience and strategies in these turbulent times as funding is being cut; as well as their thoughts about where things are heading in the next few months and years.

• An overview of the various CMS payment models
• Strategic investments and factors required for success such as advanced data
• analytics, digital tech, home-based care, and community partnerships
• Explore some of the unique challenges of implementing VBC within a hospital-based CIN/ACO
• The rapidly mounting pressures on providers from insurance companies and employers to shift to VBC
• Why the Social Determinants of Health are critical to ensure care in all payer models, including Medicare and commercial

This session will examine the synergy between high-quality, guideline-directed chronic disease management and key value-based performance metrics. Dr. Romer will discuss how a focus on delivering personalized, evidence-based medication recommendations at the point of care can drive improvements in hypertension, Type 2 diabetes, and cholesterol control. You will learn how enhanced clinical outcomes can translate into improved value metrics, including STAR ratings, HEDIS scores, and shared savings.

• How personalized medication recommendations, based on a patient’s understanding of their condition, can increase satisfaction and medication adherence
• Increase revenue via valuable volume services and improve value metrics: STAR ratings, HEDIS scores, value payments, and shared savings
• Overcome provider and patient clinical inertia by improving their confidence to rapidly control chronic conditions

Explore how healthcare organizations like Mount Sinai Health System can build and optimize technology assets to enhance performance in value-based care. This session will examine critical factors for build-or-buy decisions and best practices for optimizing technology investments across the continuum of care.

• Review key technology assets to build and optimize value-based care performance across the continuum of care
• Key factors in build or buy, and vendor decision making, and key considerations in optimizing these technology investments
• AI investments to drive population health performance and future opportunities

As value-based care matures, AI and interoperability are no longer futuristic add-ons — they are essential tools to reduce costs, improve outcomes, and deliver care that honors patient dignity. This session will explore how large language models, QHIN-enabled data exchange, and next-generation patient engagement tools are reshaping risk stratification, documentation, and care delivery — particularly in aging, serious illness, and palliative care settings.

• Understand how AI-driven chart summarization, CDI, scribing, and chatbots can reduce clinician burden and improve documentation accuracy in value-based care programs
• Explore how QHINs and interoperability standards enable better risk stratification, patient engagement, and care coordination across settings
• Examine how AI-enabled tools can support high-value care models in geriatrics, hospice, and palliative care, improving both ROI, TCOC reduction, and patient/family experience