The Formula for Value-Based Care in Orthopedics to Thrive
April 15, 2026 | By: Cameron Cortigiano | Article produced and published by Becker's Healthcare
Value-based care has started to emerge as a viable competitor to the traditional fee-for-service model that has dominated the industry, providing alternatives for physicians and patients.
Leawood, Kan.-based NueHealth is planting the flag for value-based care across specialties including orthopedics. The organization is bringing high-quality orthopedic surgeons into physician-led, risk-bearing entities that contract directly with payers under full-risk episodic agreements.
This model provides physician leverage and incentive alignment between payers, surgeons and ASCs.
The definition of value-based care can be a little different depending on who you ask, but for Dan Tasset, NueHealth’s founder, it’s all about providing high quality care at a better cost.
“The numerator is clinical quality and outcomes plus patient satisfaction divided by the denominator, which in our case is cost,” Mr. Tasset told Becker’s. “Anything that increases the numerator and decreases that denominator has a higher value score.”
Total joint replacements are a common orthopedic procedure that can paint the picture of increasing value by tipping the scales in the value equation.
By the end of the decade, there are projected to be about 3 million total joint replacements performed each year in the U.S. That total episode of care can cost upwards of $50,000 in some parts of the country.
NueHealth’s can deliver that same care and product for $20,000 to $25,000 less than the national average to a large portion of the total joint population through its value-based care model. The key is placing the surgeon at the center.
“When the model works really well, the physician or the surgeon is convening the episode of care bundle, and not the facility,” Mr. Tasset said. “When you convene it around the surgeon, they pay the downstream providers. They pay the facility, they pay the anesthesia provider, they pay physical therapy and overnight stay recovery, if needed, then what’s left goes into the surgeon or the practice.”
This system can cut out tens of thousands of dollars of waste compared to the current system, saving insurers and patients money while the surgeon is bringing in more. If surgeons are willing to stand behind their work and manage risk, they can multiply their earnings.
“In the value-based care world, if a surgeon is willing to convene the episode of care bundle, and they’re willing to stand behind their product and even guarantee the product with a warranty, they can make four times what they’re making today for the same case,” Mr. Tasset said. “It is the same volume and they don’t have to work any harder. The key is that they have to be able to take and manage the downside risk.”
So why hasn’t value-based care taken over healthcare yet? According to Mr. Tasset, large health systems and insurers want to stay in the fee-for-service realm. To make healthcare a sustainable system, it’s a necessary change.
“The current system, it’s not in the best interest of our country, it’s not in the best interest of our economy, and it’s certainly not in the best interest of patients,” Mr. Tasset said. “The industry now has a sustainable model. It’s been proven and we know it works. Whether it will proliferate depends on how much pressure is put on the big players.”
