'University Library System, University of Pittsburgh'
Abstract
The landscape of health care in the United States is in the process of dramatic change. This transformation is being instituted in an attempt to address two major dilemmas of public health significance; namely, the burgeoning cost of care and the need for quality-driven care. The Affordable Care Act has mandated that a reimbursement strategy entitled Value Based Purchasing be implemented as a means of solving these two problems. Value Based Purchasing will help healthcare institutions and providers focus on delivering quality treatment to their patients and to address their patient’s individual needs and concerns. It will, by withholding payments from non-compliant participants, save the federal government billions of dollars in the next decade. Commercial insurance companies are also implementing Value Based Purchasing as a method of saving money and providing better quality care. Focus groups have often been used to glean valuable qualitative research data from target audiences. Two focus groups were conducted at the University of Pittsburgh in which the needs and concerns of patients who had previously undergone general anesthesia were explored. In this essay, the results of participants’ responses are analyzed and then applied to the reimbursement requirements of Value Based Purchasing
