Specialty VBC

Specialty VBC activity is concentrating around tighter episode- and condition-specific accountability: CMS is proposing six updates to the Ambulatory Specialty Model for heart failure, signaling continued federal movement beyond primary-care-led ACO constructs into specialist-driven cost and quality management for high-spend chronic disease (Becker’s ASC). In parallel, payers and kidney-care operators are sharpening the definition of “high-value networks” around measurable nephrology performance, reinforcing a broader shift toward narrower specialty networks tied to outcomes, total cost, and referral discipline rather than access alone ([Strive Health](https://strivehealth.com/news/