Weight Management Services - Obesity

Developing the proposal for the Weight Management Innovation Platform: payment paper for Provider feedback

Purpose NHS England and Improvement published a Prior Information Notice on 15th July 2020 notifying potential providers about its intention to commence early market engagement in advance of potentially commissioning Weight Management Services to be delivered remotely using digital technology. Further to this a provider market engagement event was held on 27th July 2020 to solicit feedback from potential providers.

Since the provider market engagement event in July NHS England and Improvement has given further consideration to its proposals and, in particular, to the payment model that will support the Weight Management Innovation Platform.

This paper sets out NHS England and Improvement's current thinking on the design of the payment model and invites potential Providers to provide feedback on the proposals.

Objectives and principles of the payment model The objective of the payment model is to ensure that a low administrative burden for payment is implemented so as not to add cost to the implementation. We also want to capture good data on engagement that can be used in our Evaluation of the programme In light of these objectives we plan a single payment linked to completion. The payment model is underpinned by a number of principles: 1. The payment model should seek to minimise the administrative burden for all parties and be proportionate to the relatively low cost of the services being procured;

2. The payment model should be based on retention, rather than outcomes, as retention is generally a reasonable proxy for a good outcome and a purely outcomes-based model creates considerable uncertainty around costs;

3. The payment model should be linked to submission of data to ensure that effectiveness can be assessed.

Payment Model proposal We have considered a number of potential payment options.

We propose that payment would be based on engagement - with weight as a proxy for engagement. Weight measurements would be required to be uploaded at specified intervals (e.g. 0,4,8,12 weeks) with three out of the four weights recorded for full payment.

Requested feedback from Providers 1. We are assuming a single payment would be made at the end of the 12 week service delivery period. Due to the timeframes involved in service delivery, data assessment and payment processes, there would be a period of up to 20 to 24 weeks between recruitment of an individual and reimbursement of providers. We would welcome a view from providers on whether this presents a major barrier to sustainability. 2. Would the model we propose be likely to present any major barriers to delivery for providers, or have an unintended impact on provider behaviours?

Please respond by email to [email protected] by Thursday 17th September 2020

Additional information: To register for a further discussion on this, we are holding a teams call on 16th September 2-3pm. If you wish to receive an invite please contact [email protected].