How can policy incentivize care coordination?

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Policy drives care coordination best when it changes both incentives and information flow. Aligning payments to encourage coordination—through models like bundled payments, shared savings in accountable care settings, or capitation with quality incentives—gives providers a financial motive to plan, monitor, and manage a patient’s care across primary, specialty, hospital, and post-acute settings. Equally important is robust information technology and interoperable data sharing, which lets clinicians access timely, complete patient information, share care plans, and communicate across teams. This combination reduces duplicative tests, gaps during transitions, and misaligned care, making coordinated efforts more feasible and financially rewarding. Removing IT, limiting data sharing, or penalizing coordination undermines the capability or the motivation to coordinate, so none of those options promote coordination effectively.