National and Local Leaders Open up about Transparency, the Rising Cost of Care, and Solutions that Work
Cosponsored by the Delaware Health Care Commission and Highmark Delaware, January’s Payer-Purchaser Value-Based Summit generated discussions that continued beyond the packed three-hour program, which featured local, regional and national health care leaders. Sharing strategies and lessons learned, each speaker highlighted proven methods to improve quality and lower the cost of care.
“Our Blue Distinction program focuses on seven high-cost areas and identifies where there is high-quality affordable care. Hospital systems doing well become a destination site for other members across the country.”— Deborah Rice Johnson, President, Highmark Health Plan and Diversified Businesses
“Five percent of the population is consuming about 50 percent of the health care dollars. More often, these individuals have chronic conditions, such as diabetes and asthma. There is compelling data to suggest that going to some of the basics — wellness, prevention, screening — you can make incredible progress.”— Ceci Connolly, CEO, Alliance of Community Health Plans
“One of things that hasn’t been exploited is aligning the incentives of the patient with what the state, the payers, and the purchaser/employers want — a narrow network. If you have an outstanding narrow network, the patient has a positive experience where [they think], I am being cared for here and they know me.” — Margaret O’Kane, CEO National Committee for Quality Assurance
“Our College for Value-Based Purchasing teaches employers what value is, how is it measured, how to look at your data, what can you do from a design perspective, what can you do for workplace wellness, how to create transparency, and what do you need to know regarding purchasing, such as bundled payments.”— Neil Goldfarb, President and CEO, Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health
“When employers and labor look at the problem together to say, ‘We’re not buying what’s on the shelf; instead, we’re designing what brings high value to us,’ it’s a different dialogue with the health care community. We are looking at solving care delivery cross drivers — how can we distribute savings.” — Mark Blum, Executive Director, America’s Agenda
“We weren’t going to allow others to decide what the insurance would look like. We designed it. Then we went out to get someone to bid on the project. We wanted to keep members healthy … encourage better relationships with primary care doctors … get them access to doctors who gave members up to a 30-minute visit. And we were willing to pay for it.” — Kevin Kelleher, Director of Research and Economic Services, New Jersey Education Association
View the roundup video of the summit now.
View the full video of the summit.
