Building a Workforce for Value-Based Care Success
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KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Value-based care requires a workforce built for outcomes, care coordination, and population health management.
- Success depends on three core competencies: care coordination, data literacy, and continuous quality improvement.
- Healthcare workers need new skills in collaboration, performance measurement, and proactive patient management.
- Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is accelerating value-based care through new accountability-driven payment models and workforce investments.
- Traditional clinical training alone is no longer enough; ongoing education is essential.
- Learning strategies should align with organizational goals and focus on closing performance gaps.
- Organizations that continuously develop workforce capabilities will be better positioned to succeed under value-based care.
Why workforce readiness is the missing link in value-based care
More healthcare organizations are moving toward value-based care, and the trend shows no signs of slowing. According to CMS, 53% of people in traditional Medicare were in an accountable care relationship as of January 2025, representing more than 14.8 million beneficiaries and the largest year-over-year increase since CMS began tracking the metric. CMS also approved 476 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) for the 2025 performance year, reflecting continued growth in value-based care participation.
53% of Medicare beneficiaries now receive care through value-based models.
As these models continue to expand, healthcare organizations face a growing challenge: ensuring their workforce has the skills to succeed under new expectations. Shifting from volume to value requires stronger care coordination, greater data literacy, and a more proactive approach to managing patient outcomes across the care continuum. Keep reading to learn how hospitals and health systems can prepare their teams to succeed in value-based care.
What value-based care means for today’s healthcare workforce
As value-based arrangements expand, they’re testing a core promise of the model — that better coordination among healthcare professionals can support the workforce delivering the care. Yet this shift can just as easily do the opposite, adding new layers of documentation, coordination, and reporting work that leave clinical staff more stretched, not less. According to the American Medical Association, supporting the well-being of the healthcare workforce is one of the central goals of value-based care. Better collaboration can reduce redundancies, errors, and unnecessary or avoidable services. But realizing that promise depends on whether the workforce is structured and equipped to deliver it.
From fee-for-service to outcome-based care
Traditional fee-for-service rewards throughput, while value-based models reward outcomes and population health management. That changes what “performing well” looks like for staff: data fluency, proactive outreach, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and coordination across the care continuum matter as much as clinical productivity.
Why workforce strategy has become a clinical priority
Shifting from siloed specialties to coordinated care teams requires investment in training, staffing models, and supporting technology. Because organizations now bear risk for quality and cost performance, workforce gaps can translate quickly into financial pressure. And the clinical stakes are just as high: teams that aren’t equipped for this model can struggle to deliver the consistent, coordinated care these contracts require.
The skills healthcare workers need in a value-based care model
Succeeding under value-based contracts requires a different skill set than fee-for-service ever demanded. Three capabilities stand out as foundational.
Care coordination across teams
Value-based care depends on seamless collaboration across disciplines and settings. Staff needs strong communication skills to keep care teams aligned, share information effectively, and avoid duplicated or conflicting treatment plans. This is especially critical during transitions of care, when communication gaps may lead to readmissions, complications, or patient dissatisfaction.
Technology is increasingly part of this picture. A survey by Deloitte Research found that agentic artificial intelligence (AI) — tools that can plan and execute multi-step tasks rather than just respond to prompts — can help unify patient data across systems, flag risks earlier, and support proactive follow-up to help prevent adverse events and reduce readmissions. But AI tools don’t replace the need for coordination skills. Someone still must make sense of what the technology finds, then alert the care team and follow through.
Data literacy and performance measurement
Workers at every level now need to be comfortable with data. Reading performance dashboards, understanding quality metrics, and tracking outcomes against benchmarks are becoming baseline expectations rather than specialized skills. This data fluency supports evidence-based decision-making, allowing teams to identify trends, flag at-risk patients earlier, and adjust care plans using evidence alongside the clinical judgment they’ve honed over their careers.
Continuous quality improvement
Value-based success requires an ongoing commitment to continuous quality improvement. That means improving processes, identifying care gaps before they affect outcomes, and standardizing best practices across teams. Patient safety initiatives should be embedded into daily workflows, not treated as periodic compliance exercises. That reinforces a culture where improvement is proactive rather than reactive.
How CMS investments are accelerating workforce transformation
CMS remains the primary force shaping how value-based care evolves, and its recent moves signal a shift in direction. Rather than retreating from value-based care, the agency is narrowing its focus toward models that demonstrate measurable savings and hold organizations to stricter accountability standards.
New value-based care models
CMS has reshaped its innovation portfolio. In March 2025, the agency ended four payment models early after determining they weren’t generating sufficient savings. CMS is replacing them with mandatory, accountability-driven models. The Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) now requires acute-care hospitals in CMS-selected markets to participate, holding them accountable for total cost of care across defined surgical episodes. Meanwhile, CMS continues directing providers toward the Medicare Shared Savings Program as its flagship accountable care vehicle. Voluntary, low-risk participation is giving way to mandatory models with real financial exposure. For staff, that means managing episode-based accountability and tracking post-acute referrals in near real time — at a level of intensity traditional payment models didn’t demand.
New funding to support the shift
CMS is also putting money behind the transition it’s requiring. Through Advance Investment Payments, new, low-revenue ACOs joining the Shared Savings Program can receive an upfront payment of $250,000, plus quarterly payments over two years — funding intended specifically to help them build staffing and infrastructure they otherwise couldn’t afford. CMS has extended similar logic to more established ACOs through a prepaid shared savings option, letting them draw advances against expected savings, with up to half of those funds earmarked for staffing and infrastructure.
CMS offers a $250,000 upfront payment to make value-based care participation possible for qualifying low-revenue ACOs.
Why traditional healthcare training is no longer enough
The majority of today’s healthcare workforce didn’t learn about the skills required for value-based care success in their clinical training. Closing that gap requires a deliberate, ongoing investment in continuing education.
Clinical competency must include business and quality outcomes
Clinical skill alone no longer defines a high-performing employee. Staff also need to understand how their day-to-day work connects to quality metrics, cost targets, and contract performance. Clinical refreshers are important, but staff need a structured way to keep building fluency in data interpretation, coordination workflows, and financial mechanics. That fluency should be continuous, not a one-off. Without an understanding of how their work ties to those business and quality outcomes, even clinically excellent staff can unintentionally work against the outcomes their organization is accountable for.
Building a learning culture that supports performance improvement
Generic, one-size-fits-all training won’t get organizations there. Staff need education that’s tailored to their role, responsive to their existing skill level, and delivered in formats that fit how they learn — whether that’s hands-on, self-paced or case-based. Engagement matters as much as content because training that feels relevant and timely tends to be stickier than training that feels like a checkbox. Mentorship and visible leadership reinforce this further, signaling that performance improvement is a shared organizational value rather than an individual obligation.
Strategies healthcare leaders can use to prepare their workforce
Identifying the right skills is only half the work. Here are four strategies for building them at scale.
Align learning with organizational goals
Learning priorities should map directly to the specific contracts and CMS models an organization participates in. When learning connects clearly to strategy, staff understand not just what to learn, but why it matters to the outcomes their organization is accountable for.
Develop competencies that support value-based care
Leaders need a defined set of core competencies — care coordination, data literacy, quality improvement — built into onboarding and ongoing training. Competency frameworks give organizations a consistent standard to train toward and a way to identify gaps before they affect performance under risk-based contracts.
Use performance data to personalize learning
Workforce data should shape how training is delivered. Identifying where teams or individuals are struggling lets leaders target education where it’s needed most. This closes performance gaps faster than applying generic, organization-wide training.
Measure workforce readiness over time
Tracking competency completion, time-to-proficiency, and performance trends gives leaders visibility into whether training investments are improving outcomes. This data also helps organizations adjust their strategy as CMS models and contract terms evolve.
Building a workforce that can thrive under value-based care
Value-based care is the direction CMS and commercial payers are steadily moving. And as that shift continues, success will come down to execution as much as strategy. That means staff who can coordinate across teams, interpret performance data, and continuously improve how care is delivered.
Building that workforce requires ongoing, personalized education that evolves alongside new payment models and quality expectations. The organizations that invest in their people now will be the ones positioned to lead as value-based care becomes the default.
FAQs
What is value-based care?
A care model that ties payment to quality, equity, and the cost of care rather than volume of services delivered.
How does value-based care change healthcare workforce requirements?
It shifts the focus from individual productivity to coordinated, outcomes-driven care, requiring new skills like data literacy and cross-team collaboration.
What skills are most important in value-based care?
Care coordination, data literacy and performance measurement, and continuous quality improvement.
Why is care coordination important in value-based care?
It reduces redundancies, unnecessary services, and errors, especially during care transitions like discharge and referrals.
How is CMS supporting value-based care initiatives?
CMS is shifting toward mandatory, accountability-driven models like TEAM and expanding programs such as the Medicare Shared Savings Program, while ending models that haven’t demonstrated clear savings.
How can hospitals prepare employees for value-based reimbursement?
By aligning training with organizational goals, building core competencies, personalizing learning with performance data, and measuring readiness over time.