Two forces are reshaping the delivery of health care to women in the Ocean State.

The first is the move toward paying health providers based on health outcomes, thus removing often wasteful incentives created by the fee-for-service model.

With the emphasis on outcomes, women’s health providers are seeing the logic in creating practices that integrate services across the spectrum of women’s needs, with the result that women are finding it easier to access the care they need through a single practice.

This integration, in turn, is driving various women’s-health practices to band together, as the new payment model shrinks revenue. At the vanguard of these changes are Lifespan and Care New England, which have created group practices that follow this more fully integrated approach to delivering health care.

Putting health outcomes at the head of expectations for providers is a simple, yet powerful way to bring runaway health care spending under control. As a society, the care we pay for should be driven by improved health for the patient.

That this change is creating a new way for women to receive the care is a fortunate byproduct. •