Fundamental Concepts for Managing Risk and Understanding the Total Cost of Care

This resource is designed to serve as a primer for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of health payment models in California and nationally. It focuses on concepts and terminology related to value-based payment models and to health care delivery models and systems.

The publication is organized alphabetically by key concepts. Terms that are related to a key concept are defined below that concept. Words that are italicized are defined elsewhere in the publication.

The publication was prepared by the California Quality Collaborative, a managing partner of the California Improvement Network (CIN). Please share this document broadly with your networks.