Recently in an article on episode of care purchasing written for the New England Journal of Medicine, Rob Mechanic of Brandeis University, noted that several software firms “are developing ‘engines’ to automatically convert fee-for-service claims into episode-based payments”1. He also observes that these types of investments are needed to make episode payment administratively feasible, reliable, economically sustainable, and scalable. The realization that new types of technical solutions are required for payment reform is becoming widespread.
