There are many passing fads in health care (remember kiosks?). Don’t let physicians think that value-based care is one of them. Instead, give it permanence, and differentiate risk from other market forces that may come and go. In your messaging, frame value-based care as foundational to the practice of medicine—not a drastic departure from care delivery today.

As one physician leader from ChenMed put it: “Value-based payment models are based on well care for patients: better everyday health and fewer hospital visits.” I don’t think any physician would disagree with that statement or feel like it’s that different from how they care for patients today. (And as we’ve discussed previously, ChenMed’s model is becoming an increasingly compelling one for physicians.)

It’s easy to feel like risk is another thing we’re saying is a strategic priority. But value-based care is often interconnected with other organizational goals like telehealth, team-based care, access, patient experience, and more.

Look for synergies across these initiatives and set a patient-centric vision that explicitly connects them. Not only does this minimize whiplash among physicians, but it also reduces redundancy and streamlines the operational work involved. Now is an important moment to make risk a tenet of your organization’s vision for patient care rather than a standalone initiative.

For executives, taking on risk means changes to payment models, clinical investments, and market strategy. But those things don’t motivate frontline clinicians. While it’s important that physicians are literate in these topics, a 101-overview is enough.

Focus instead on what value-based care means for their day-to-day and show them why it will be better for their practice and patients. In most cases, physicians just want to know how risk will change the way they care for patients and get paid for it. Rather than the 30,000-foot view on risk, give them the 30-foot one.

We know from our engagement research that physicians want insight into organizational strategy and to help advance it themselves. Involving physicians early on in your value-based care journey can be a powerful opportunity to boost employee and leader engagement. Balance one-way clinician-specific updates with opportunities for physicians to get scrubbed in and inform your organization’s approach.

While it can be tempting to wait until you’ve finished the ship to bring physicians along, asking them to help you build it with early and frequent feedback is one of the best ways to improve engagement. Show your work early, often, and yes—ugly.