Payers and providers are largely behind the new direct contracting model that was implemented this year. Why is that, exactly? I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and we’ll dig into that and other developments in this week’s Top Stories.

 Over the past several years, the big trend in healthcare has been to inch away from fee-for-service reimbursement and toward value-based care, and direct contracting, as a policy, has proven popular in moving the needle. According to Healthcare Finance News (https://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/providers-payers-see-direct-contractings-capitation-important-move-value-based-care), capitation makes it somewhat unique among population-based models, as it allows additional money on the front end that can fund new programs and infrastructure for Medicare beneficiaries. Payers and providers see improvements that can by made to the model, but by and large it’s seen an an important step away from fee-for-service.

 Mass General Brigham has announced a partnership with YouTube to offer viewers access to credible medical information from the health system's experts. As we see in HealthcareITNews (https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/youtube-tapped-support-access-accurate-medical-info), the organization has joined other healthcare and research institutions in spearheading fact-based videos to share information about a variety of topics. The move was spurred by the rampant spread of medical disinformation, including about the COVID-19 vaccine, with YouTube removing more than 800,000 videos between February 2020 and March 2021. Health systems have leaned on informational videos to accomplish a wide range of patient engagement goals.

 Finally this week, health interventions are increasingly employing gamified strategies like badges, points and levels in an attempt to get people to adopt new behaviors, but is it effective? MobiHealth News reports (https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/gamification-boosts-physical-activity-healthy-behaviors-new-study) on a JAMA Network Open study showing that during a 12-week intervention, gamification with social support and loss-framed financial incentives resulted in a “modest increase in physical activity,” but it was not sustained over the eight-week follow-up. Although the results from this study were modest, the researchers note that even slight increases in physical activity can have health benefits.

 I’m Jeff Lagasse with Healthcare Finance News, and this has been Top Stories.