Center for Health Value Innovation

Outcomes-Based Contracting(tm): The Value-Based Framework for Optimal Accountability

The importance of aligning incentives cannot be overstated: for health status to improve all of the stakeholders must be focused on producing a healthier person or persons, which is an investment strategy. But no rational investor just places money down; he or she analyzes the prospects, quantifies the risk, and invests where the best economic opportunities are. The dividend is dependent upon how well the investors’ goals and rewards line up with the investee’s goals and rewards. The importance of this alignment cannot be overstated when considering what is at risk in improving health. The exquisite tension between health and economics can be alleviated when the focus is on engagement and accountability for outcomes. The engagement is not just on the part of the consumer or patient. It carries into the payer or plan sponsor, and it travels across all of the service providers (health plan, clinicians, communications companies, manufacturers of equipment and pharmaceuticals, hospital systems, information management companies). If one of these stakeholders is “squeezed,” while others prosper, the friction is increased. If the dividends of reduced health risks and costs are shared across the stakeholders, then everyone wins–the friction is reduced. The goal, then, is to find that harmony, and it is best found in engagement and accountability that produce healthier people, healthier organizations, and healthier communities. This is accomplished through an Outcomes-Based Contract. Read more from author Cyndy Nayer, and learn how the Outcomes-Based Contracting^tm Framework will propel the health, wealth, performance goals of people, organizations and communities…Outcomes-Based Contracting^tm: The Value-Based Framework for Optimal Accountability

Fellows of the Center–Leaders in Value-Based Design

2010 Fellows of The Center for Health Value Innovation

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – August, 2010 – Twenty-one of the nation’s leading health benefits executives who are committed to improving engagement and accountability in health management have been named Fellows of The Center for Health Value Innovation.  As the nation’s premier benefits leadership exchange, Center Fellows will accelerate the adoption of innovation that supports the five C’s of sustainable behavior change: commitment, concern, cost, communication, community.

“This honorable title of Fellow goes to a rarified group of individuals who have not only implemented value-based design in their own organizations, but have also demonstrated alignment of incentives, propelling the work of the Center,” says Cyndy Nayer, president and CEO of the Center.

The Center is developing the largest database of value-based levers—incentives, insurance plan designs, and services that companies use to improve the health value of investments in their workforce.  Through interviews, surveys, and collaborative intelligence of Center members, the acceleration of adoption shows that value-based benefit designs (VBD) are a significant part of health and performance investing.

“If value is measured by outcomes, then purchasing must embrace outcomes–based contracting, measured by clinical, financial and performance determinants,” adds Nayer.  “Our Fellows advance the goal of linking health value to accountability for outcomes in our communities.”

The Center recently announced the results of its survey, “Value-Based Design 2009,” for which they engaged  Buck Consultants, a global employee benefits and human resources consulting firm, confirming that employers believe VBD improves employee health and productivity.

“The next Buck survey, detailing the changes anticipated in health reform, begins this fall,” says Nayer.  She also points to the Center’s increased focus on employee engagement, system alignment, and economic predictability, which ties in with its goal to expand the definition of VBD and link accountability to health and performance.

Michael Taylor MD, Medical Director, Health Promotion, Caterpillar and Chairman of the Center’s Board, concurs, “These leaders demonstrate a variety of value-based designs with replicable examples of improved health outcomes.”

2010 Fellows include:

• Jan Berger, MD, MJ, President, Health Intelligence Partners, LLC
• Wayne Burton, MD, Chief Medical Officer, American Express Company
• Joycelyn Elders, MD, Former U.S. Surgeon General, Special Advisor, Government Relations
• Paul Grundy, MD, Director of Healthcare Transformation, IBM Global Well Being Services and Health Benefits, IBM
• Robert Holben, Former Director of Compensation and Benefits, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation
• Dave Johnson, MD, MBA, CPE, President, Vivacity, Associate Medical Director, Premera Blue Cross
• Alison Kocanda, Manager, Medical Education, Medical & Scientific Affairs Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc.
• Robert Krtizler, MD, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Johns Hopkins HealthCare, LLC, Vice President of Communications, Center for Health Value Innovation
• Cheryl Larson, Director of Membership and Education, Midwest Business Group on Health
• Donna Marshall, Executive Director, Colorado Business Group on Health
• Clare Miller, Director, American Psychiatric Association
• Kavita Nair, RPh, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Vice President of Government, Finance and Ethics, Treasurer, Center for Health Value Innovation
• Kevin O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer, Partners in Care
• Laurel Pickering, Executive Director, New York Business Group on Health
• Richard Popiel, MD, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Horizon BCBS of New Jersey
• Robert Scully, MD, Chief Medical Director, Health Alliance Medical Plans
• Scott Smith, Director Business Coalitions & Alliance Development, GlaxoSmithKline
• Michael Sokol, MD, Corporate Medical Director, Merck and Co., Inc.
• Brian Sweet, RPh, Chief Pharmacy Officer, WellPoint, Inc.
• Jerry Vuocolo, Director, Healthcare System Strategy, Merck and Co., Inc.
• Fred Williams, Director of Health Benefits Management, Quest Diagnostics Inc., Director of Community Health Innovation, Center for Health Value Innovation
• Jerry Reeves, MD, Vice President of Medical Affairs, Health Insight of Nevada, Principal, Health Innovations, LLC

About The Center for Health Value Innovation

Information Exchange for Value-Based Design

The Center for Health Value Innovation has grown into the nation’s premier organization dedicated to sharing the evidence of improved health and economic outcomes through improved health engagement and accountability.  www.vbhealth.org

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