Catalyst for Payment Reform

About Us

Who We Are

We are a small nonprofit committed to big changes in the health care system.

Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) is an independent, nonprofit corporation with the mission to catalyze employers, public purchasers and others to implement strategies that produce higher value health care and improve the functioning of the health care marketplace.

In the one dozen years since CPR launched, we have successfully catalyzed the payment reform movement as well as much greater transparency into healthcare prices. We have shined a light on growing provider market power and the need to address rising commercial healthcare prices and the affordability of care. We have helped myriad healthcare purchasers push for better value from the healthcare system and have educated policymakers about how they can improve the functioning of healthcare markets.

As a mission-driven organization, we are committed to providing the bulk of our resources to employers and health care purchasers for free, as their willingness to be catalysts is critical to our successCreate your employer-purchaser Catalyze.org account here.

Catalyst for Payment Reform is a 501(c)(3) organization that is funded through foundations, membership dues, and revenue generated from commissioned and contract work as well as the sale of CPR products and services.

Our Core Beliefs

All of our work is governed by our core beliefs.

A small group of empowered purchasers can change the system. We are committed to finding ways for purchasers to learn from each other and work together to advance our shared agenda.

Consistent signals to the market will catalyze change faster. We help purchasers know what to ask of health plans and other stakeholders and give them the tools they need to do it.

We need to track progress and hold the market accountable. We know progress relies on objective measurement. We will continue to collect data and conduct meaningful analysis on how our health care system is functioning.

Our health care system will continue to evolve, creating new challenge and opportunities. We don’t expect things to change overnight. We’re small, flexible, and committed to improving the system however we can.

Our Story

CPR was born out of the idea that together, employers could make a difference.

In the 2000’s, the US health care system was in crisis. With costs rising and quality lagging, employers were taking on a larger proportion of the cost despite the fact that they had almost no transparency into the health care market.

In 2009, CPR was founded to promote a paradigm shift based on two core beliefs:

  1. The way we pay for health care in the U.S. needs to change from volume-based to value-based.
  2. Employers and other purchasers have a unique ability to use their leverage to push for big changes to the health care system.

These ideas laid the groundwork for CPR, which initially focused on catalyzing payment reform by coordinating among large, progressive purchasers eager to push the market together.

Over the course of our history, CPR’s focus has expanded to include other topics and strategies critical to helping employers achieve higher value, including benefit design, price transparency, behavioral health, telehealth, and specialty pharmacy.

Listen in to CPR’s former Executive Director, Suzanne Delbanco, asking Bob Galvin why he founded CPR

CPR’s Lifetime Impact Report

Since our inception over ten years ago, we at CPR have moved the market towards accessibility, affordability and equity.

In this new report, we leverage the concept of the Overton Window, taking what’s important for purchasers from fringe to mainstream – from unthinkable to expected.

Submit the form to download the report: