The RAND Health Care Payment and Delivery Simulation Model (PADSIM)

This report describes RAND's Health Care Payment and Delivery Simulation Model (PADSIM), developed to more effectively analyze the impacts of current and future reforms to provider payment policy. These reforms include changes in how much providers are paid for their services and changes in the degree to which payments are determined by the volume of services. PADSIM offers a systematic framework for quantifying such reforms and providers' responses to them. This report discusses the motivation for building the model, describes its conceptual underpinnings, and provides an overview of how to operate the model.