No two employers are alike, especially when it comes to health care purchasing. Benefits offerings need to reflect unique characteristics, like employee demographics and health status, company culture, and regional market dynamics. Yet despite these differences, employers share many of the same challenges, and face similar frustrations in attempting to address them. So even though health care purchasers are ultimately on their own when it comes to their strategies, we’re really all in this together.
Just like any innovation, it is the early adopters who learn first-hand what works and what doesn’t, and they help to pave the way for others. Generally, large, self-funded purchasers are among the first to implement innovative programs, like reference pricing, value-based insurance design, bundled payments, or centers of excellence. Sharing the good, bad, and ugly means that the next employer who wants to experiment with these high-value strategies doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel. It also gives those who are more risk averse a roadmap to follow.
Moreover, these early adopters stand to gain when others follow in their footsteps too. Creating increased demand for these innovations moves the market forward by motivating health plans and other vendors to improve their products or offerings to meet customer needs. When a large swath of customers demanded price transparency, for example, we quickly saw vendors rise to the challenge. Health plans may be more inclined to invest in infrastructure to support bundled payment if they know that a large customer base expects it.
With the support of the Peterson Center on Healthcare, CPR is making it easier to help employers share their successes and failures. Today, we announce our new Employer Case Study series. In each case study, we will spotlight one employer’s experience implementing a new payment, delivery, or benefit design innovation. We’ll outline the problem they faced, their rationale for choosing the specific strategy, how it was designed and implemented, results to date, and any lessons learned.
Starting this week, CPR will be releasing case studies on the following topics:
- How a small employer spearheaded the launch of a near-site clinic
- How an employer addressed high health care costs by implementing prospective bundled payment
- How a retailer offered a high-touch health care navigation solution
- How telemedicine helped an employer solve utilization challenges
- How pairing a center of excellence with bundled payment led to more appropriate care
- What a large employer learned by experimenting with reference pricing
- How an employer enhanced primary care access within their high-deductible health plan
- And more!
Don’t forget, purchasers have access to these tools for free by registering on our website.