Principal Findings. Difference-in-differences estimates indicated that hospitals that
were exposed to HVBP did not show greater improvement for either the clinical process
or patient experience measures during the program’s first implementation period.
Estimates from our preferred specification showed that HVBP was associated with a
0.51 percentage point reduction in composite quality for the clinical process measures
(p > .10, 95 percent CI: 1.37, 0.34) and a 0.30 percentage point reduction in composite
quality for the patient experience measures (p > .10, 95 percent CI: 0.79, 0.19).
We found some evidence that hospitals improved performance on clinical process measures
prior to the start of HVBP, but no evidence of this phenomenon for the patient
experience measures.
Conclusions. The timing of the financial incentives in HVBP was not associated with
improved quality of care. It is unclear whether improvement for the clinical process
measures prior to the start of HVBP was driven by the expectation of the program or
was the result of other factors.