As a health benefits consultant, I find the MidAtlantic Business Group on Health invaluable for two reasons; I establish relationships in a non-sales setting and I am exposed to advanced concepts and strategies that I can use for the benefit of my clients.
The Employer's Role
The Employer’s Role in Value-Based Purchasing
Without employer leadership that is fully engaged both at the individual company level and at the community level, the vision of value-based purchasing as a transformational strategy for health care delivery system will not be realized. No other stakeholder in the health care system has more at risk and more to gain than employers, from writing the checks that pay for health care services to depending on that very same system to help produce a company’s most competitive asset – a healthy and productive workforce.
For example, strategies to influence informed consumer choice include:
- Employer-based and community-based health and productivity programs (primarily to influence lifestyle choice, personal behaviors, thus keeping individuals from having to use the health care system);
- Information dissemination (particularly through employer/employee communication channels and health plan websites);
- Evidence based benefit design, which refers to approaches that tier medical treatments/interventions (e.g. Pitney Bowes) and/or providers (e.g. high performance networks) by clear evidence of efficacy and performance. This strategy employs the use of co-pay incentives to steer individuals towards effective treatments and high value providers.
On the supplier side, the following MABGH Initiatives are direct steps employers can take in payment reform, moving health care to a value-based purchasing environment: