Catalyst for Payment Reform

CPR Library Chocolate Box

This 10-day daily email series will guide you around CPR’s resource library so you’ll see the range of topics and product types that we cover. Introducing the “CPR Library Chocolate Box” in the form of a free treat, aka CPR resource, every day leading up to Valentine’s Day.

Read More

Any Way the Wind Blows: The Future of Heath Care Payment Reform

A tornado is what comes to mind when thinking about the future of alternative payment models (APMs).  It’s not because the health care ecosystem (let alone APMs) are poised to wreak horrific destruction upon us all. Rather, the tornado analogy derives from the powerful and influential forces blowing the APM movement in multiple and conflicting directions.

Read More

CPR’s Top 5 Free Resources

CPR’s mission is to help employers and other health care purchasers get better value for their health care dollar.  We publish numerous free resources intended to benefit stakeholders across the

Read More

What Xavier Becerra’s nomination as HHS Secretary could mean for employer-purchasers

During the economic recovery, we need competitive health care markets as a counterweight against health care price inflation.  With the economy struggling, employers and other health care purchasers have less money than ever to spend on health care and need every tool at their disposal to keep expenses under control.  Employers across the country will be watching to see if the Sutter case will serve as a warning to other dominant providers, or if anticompetitive behavior will be given a COVID hall pass. As Secretary of Health and Human Services, Becerra’s understanding of these dynamics will inevitably shape his work on health care delivery and payment reforms, policies regarding transparency of price and quality information, and much more. 

Read More

‘Tis the Season For A Teachable Moment (on Price Variation)

According to the CDC, 51.8% of Americans age 6 months or older received the flu vaccine during the 2019-2020 flu season; yet, the CDC recommends all individuals in this age range get the vaccine, with limited exceptions.  Consumers regularly get the vaccine as part of a primary care visit or at their local pharmacy.  In prior years, employers would offer their employees, and sometimes dependents, the added convenience of getting their flu vaccine on-site.  This year, however, many employers have limited or eliminated any widescale effort to offer on-site flu vaccines.  This means that some consumers will have to seek out their vaccine elsewhere.  So, what’s the appropriate site of care for the flu vaccine?

Read More

Rick Abbott on lowering costs by focusing on quality

Suzanne Delbanco chats with Rick Abbott, VP of Product and Market Solutions at Premera Blue Cross. Suzanne and Rick discuss if narrow networks, also known as high-performance networks, represent a viable way to lower prices in the employer-sponsored health insurance market.

Read More

The Great Delivery System Shake-Up

“What I see now is confusion, disorientation, uncertainty, and anxiety.  That creates an opportunity, but it doesn’t provide a direction.” – David Blumenthal, President of The Commonwealth Fund, speaking at

Read More

Alan Muney, MD, on why large health plans have a total cost of care advantage

Listen in as Suzanne Delbanco connects with Alan Muney, MD, MHA, former Chief Medical Officer of Cigna, former CEO of Equity Healthcare, and current health care advisor to multiple venture equity firms. This interview is part of CPR’s current work to understand whether group purchasing efforts can secure better health care value for employer-purchasers.

Read More