Value-based contracts continue to gain traction among large employers looking to manage rising healthcare costs. According to a report from the National Business Group on Health,
Nearly 40% of employers have incorporated some type of value-based benefit design in which employees receive reduced cost sharing or premium reductions when they take steps to manage chronic conditions or obtain higher-quality or more efficient care.
Centers of excellence for certain specialties and procedures and telehealth utilization are at the heart of employers’ plan to transition to value-based care:
Almost nine in ten employers (88%) expect to use COEs in 2018 for certain procedures such as transplants or orthopedic surgery. Bundled payments or other types of alternative payment arrangements will be used by 21-48% of COEs contracts, depending on the medical procedure or condition.
Among the most common treatments employer plans route to CoEs are spinal surgeries, hip replacements, bariatric procedures and fertility treatments.
A similarly large swath of employers see telehealth as essential:
Virtually all employers (96%) will make telehealth services available in states where it is allowed next year. More than half (56%) plan to offer telehealth for behavioral health services, more than double the percentage this year. Telehealth utilization is on the rise, with nearly 20% of employers experiencing employee utilization rates of 8% or higher.
More than half of the employers surveyed will offer on-site or near-site health centers by 2018, with further growth expected to 2020. Such centers are believed to improve employee absence rates and perhaps even boost business performance.
Cost savings aren’t the only goal of employers’ value-based care plans, said Brian Marcotte, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health.
“Employers are focused on enhancing the employee experience. For example, there is a big increase in the number of employers offering decision support, concierge services and tools to help employees navigate the healthcare system. The complexity of the system and proliferation of new entrants has made it difficult for employees to fully understand their benefit programs, treatment options and where to go for care.”
The Large Employers’ 2018 Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey involved respondents from approximately 150 companies across a range of industries. The companies have 15 million employees. About 100 of them are in the Fortune 500.