Choosing Outcomes-Based Reimbursement Policies: Should We Worry About Collusion?

Outcomes-based reimbursement rewards health providers with better health outcomes with higher payments. Such reimbursement policies require several design choices, including the type of contract (e.g., capitation or fee-for-service), measure (e.g., population- or provider-level outcomes), and whether to contract with individual providers or larger groups. We explore which outcomes-based reimbursement policies may be vulnerable to potentially illegal collusion, and whether collusion issues can be