Hospital-physician Integration and Value-based Payment: Early Results From MIPS.

Background: Hospital-physician integration is often justified as a driver of clinical quality improvement due to joint resources covering a broad spectrum of care. Value-based programs, such as the Medicare Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), are intended to tie financial incentives to clinical quality, which may confer an advantage on such integrated practices.

Objectives: We assessed the relationship between hospital-physician integration and MIPS performance by comparing hospital-integrated practices and independent practices.