The report concluded that bundled payments are associated with reductions in healthcare spending and inconsistent, small effects on quality measures. Switching from fee-for-service to bundled payments generally led to a decrease in spending of about 10 percent, according to the report.

However, AHRQ noted that the strength of evidence on bundled payment effects was low, and that future bundled payment programs are "likely to differ" from the programs in the study. The programs in the study were mostly single-setting prospective payment systems that replaced fee-for-service reimbursement systems.

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