Healthcare is shifting toward payment models that place greater emphasis on quality, outcomes and total cost of care. As those models expand, healthcare organizations need reliable data and analytics to understand performance, manage risk and respond to quality measures.
What Is Value-Based Care, and Why Is It Expanding?
Value-based care is a healthcare payment approach that places greater emphasis on the quality and outcomes of care rather than simply the volume of services delivered. Different value-based payment models use different measures and financial arrangements, but the general goal is to connect payment more closely to quality, outcomes and cost.
The approach isn’t new, but some CMS value-based payment models are becoming mandatory for selected providers in 2026.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the federal agency that administers Medicare and works with states to administer Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. CMS also establishes payment policies for federal healthcare programs. One example is the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM), which began January 1, 2026.
TEAM is a mandatory episode-based payment model for selected acute care hospitals in participating geographic areas. The model covers five types of surgical episodes: lower-extremity joint replacement, surgical hip and femur fracture treatment, spinal fusion, coronary artery bypass graft, and major bowel procedures. CMS currently lists 720 TEAM participants.
The model evaluates participating organizations using episode spending and specified quality measures. Depending on performance, participants may receive a payment adjustment. That makes accurate measurement and performance management important operational concerns for organizations participating in the model.
Value-based payment arrangements are also becoming more common beyond mandatory CMS models. A 2024 Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) survey found that participation in value-based care and shared-risk arrangements among hospitals, health systems and health plans reached 45.2% in 2023. Nearly 40% of commercial health plans participated in value-based payment models, while about 44% of Medicaid dollars were paid through alternative payment models tied to quality metrics.
Why Does Value-Based Care Depend on Healthcare Analytics?
Value-based care makes accurate measurement increasingly important.
Organizations participating in value-based arrangements may need to track quality measures, understand costs, evaluate outcomes and identify opportunities to improve care. Those activities depend on the ability to collect, organize and analyze healthcare data.
Healthcare analytics can support that work in several ways. Predictive analytics can help organizations identify patients who may be at higher risk for certain outcomes. Dashboards can help clinical and administrative leaders monitor quality and operational measures. Data visualization can make complex information easier to evaluate and communicate.
For organizations participating in an episode-based model such as TEAM, analytics can also help connect clinical and financial information. CMS evaluates TEAM performance using episode spending and quality measures, so organizations need processes for understanding both.
That doesn’t mean every organization needs the same analytics infrastructure. The tools and capabilities required will depend on the organization’s size, payment arrangements, data environment and clinical priorities.
What does matter is the ability to turn healthcare data into information that leaders and care teams can use.
Why Are Some Healthcare Organizations Still Working to Build These Capabilities?
Participation in a value-based arrangement doesn’t necessarily tell you how mature an organization’s analytics capabilities are.
The same HFMA survey found that only one in four physician practice leaders expected their participation in value-based models to increase in 2025. HFMA cited challenges including finding alternative payment models that align with a practice’s specialty and difficulty meeting the metrics required for bonus payments.
Those challenges illustrate why participation and operational readiness aren’t necessarily the same thing.
Healthcare organizations taking on greater responsibility for quality, cost and outcomes may need to strengthen how they integrate financial and clinical data, monitor performance and evaluate results. HFMA has highlighted the importance of integrating financial and clinical analytics as organizations work to advance value-based care.
That creates a need for professionals who understand both healthcare and data.
How Can Healthcare Analytics Skills Support Value-Based Care?
Healthcare analytics professionals can contribute to the systems that help organizations understand performance and make decisions based on data.
Their work may include managing healthcare data, developing analytical models, creating dashboards, identifying trends and communicating findings to clinical and administrative stakeholders.
Those skills can be relevant to value-based care because organizations need reliable information to evaluate quality, understand utilization and costs, and identify opportunities for improvement.
They can also be useful outside value-based payment arrangements. Healthcare organizations use analytics for areas such as population health, clinical operations, financial planning, quality improvement and health information management.
For professionals interested in this intersection of healthcare and data, graduate education can provide a structured way to build those capabilities.
How Does USF Health’s MSHI Healthcare Analytics Program Address These Skills?
USF Health’s MSHI Healthcare Analytics program focuses on the management and use of healthcare data. The 100% online Master of Science program is 32 credits, designed to be completed in two years, and uses eight-week sessions.
The curriculum addresses areas including healthcare data, analytics, data visualization and predictive analytics. Those subjects align with several of the analytical capabilities healthcare organizations use to evaluate information and support decision-making.
The program is CAHIIM-accredited, with accreditation affirmed through 2029. Students also have the opportunity to earn a Tier 3 SAS Academic Specialization by completing the SAS Approved Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Analytics.
The Morsani College of Medicine was ranked No. 1 in the nation for the second consecutive year in the 2026 Medical School Excellence Index. USF was the only university to receive a perfect score in the ranking.
Who Should Consider USF Health’s Healthcare Analytics Program?
The program may be a fit for technically minded, data-driven professionals who want to apply analytics to healthcare operations, quality improvement and decision-making.
It may be particularly relevant for professionals interested in healthcare data management, predictive analytics, data visualization and outcomes analysis.
As healthcare organizations take on greater responsibility for managing quality, costs and outcomes, professionals who can work across healthcare and data may have an important role to play in understanding and applying information.
The program is designed for students who want to develop those skills through a healthcare-focused graduate degree.
You can request a free program guide to learn more about the USF Health MSHI Healthcare Analytics curriculum, admissions requirements and tuition.
