“In past iterations of this survey, we’ve found a number of useful results that have helped employers better understand how to target their health care dollars,” explained Cyndy Nayer, president of the Center.

“In order to get quality results, we want to invite a wide variety of businesses to take the survey, with a promise that their organizations will not be individually identified and that no personal health information is requested,” Nayer continued.

Employers of all sizes, including nonprofit and government agencies, are invited to take the survey today at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/value-based. Results will be gathered through Sept. 15, 2012. Those who take the survey will get a complimentary PDF copy of the results.

The Center has been unique in its vision for health benefit designs focused on outcomes. In tracking this link and the development of more sophisticated value-based systems over the past five years, the CHVI survey has been instrumental in defining outcomes-based contracting.

Outcomes-based contracting is a growing trend that aligns all stakeholders (health plans, employers, clinicians, consumers, patients) to engage patients in their health, hold providers accountable for health improvement, and create a predictable cost trend for organizations and communities. Previous iterations of this survey have shown the emergence of outcomes-based contracts and their focus on systemic incentives and accountability.

Special areas targeted in this year’s survey include outcomes-based contracts in special situations (for example, cancer care); direct contracting with delivery systems; and telehealth.

The Value-Based Designs and Outcomes-Based Contracting Survey is made possible by the generous support of Cigna and United Healthcare, with promotional help from Employee Benefit News.

MEDIA CONTACT: Pat Washburn, pat@vbhealth.org or (207) 619-2143

About the Center for Health Value Innovation (CHVI)

CHVI (501c3) is focused on the relentless pursuit of innovation in benefit designs that improve engagement, accelerate accountability and create a predictable health cost trend. CHVI members represent over 60 million lives from all market segments in the health value supply chain, sharing the evidence of improved health and economic outcomes through value-based designs, including the Outcomes-Based Contracting™ platform for accelerating meaningful change. The Center for Health Value Innovation’s goal is to improve the health of people, organizations and communities throughout the U.S.  www.vbhealth.org

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In a year of health reform uncertainty, the Center expands our mission of innovation and implementation guidance. For 5 years we have been surveying employers, consultants and health plans to track the trends in value-based designs, adding to the shared intelligence that moves organizations and communities toward better health. This year we are expanding our focus on outcomes-based contracting as bundling and performance reimbursements take hold.

Our survey explores various insurance plan designs and delivery system reimbursements, plus the incentives and disincentives for patients and providers. Your successes, challenges, and experiences will help drive the new wave of innovation for improved health and economic outcomes.

Read the full report

Special thanks to our Media Sponsor

JOHN J. MAHONEY MD AWARD for community health innovation was announced.  Polishing Jack’s star is hardly necessary, yet we created this award to expand the concepts and innovations in value-based benefit design that has made Jack the icon that he is.  For those who don’t know, Jack is a co-founder of the Center, serves as our Chief Medical Officer, and still spends a great deal of his time at Pitney Bowes and the Florida Business Health Coalition.  Pitney is where Jack created the first value-based benefit design–but what most don’t know is that it was focused on behavioral health  Rosenheck, Yale Pitney Bowes study EAP A surprise to Jack, this award is an innovator’s dream:  a Pay-it-Forward award.  Initial funding came through an educational grant from Johnson and Johnson Health Care Services, then the Center matched the funds.  Now, multi-stakeholder collaboratives within a community can apply for the $40,000 award and the Center will provide oversight, training, and suggest innovative technology that will fuel value-based benefit designs.  BUT THERE IS MORE:  The community that wins the award must contribute $40,000 into the award “pot” so that the next community that applies will get the same oversight, etc., as the first–that’s the cool Pay-It-Forward concept, and it’s just how Jack works!  He shares openly on his learnings, his experiences, and his challenges.  For more on the award, Mahoney Award App FINAL Dr. Cathy Baase of Dow, medical director for Dow, a member of our Board and an expert in community health improvement, will chair the judging committee–all applications must be received electronically at the Center no later than May 31, 2010.

Michael Taylor MD (Chairman of our Board) and Wayne Burton MD (new Strategic Advisor and Master of Ceremonies for the Award announcement) were nothing short of stellar at the Board Meeting.  You know Dr. Burton as the former Medical Director of JPMorgan Chase (and, before that, BankOne) and the research guru of Health and Productivity Management.  Mike, of course, is the Medical Director for Health Promotion for Caterpillar.  Over 80 people attended our Celebration and we inducted new members into the Fellows of the Center as well (more to follow later). Other luminaries included not only our Board of Directors, but also Mike Critelli (former CEO of Pitney Bowes and now the Chair of Dossia and the Dossia Foundation), Tom Parry (President of the Integrated Benefits Institute), Ron Loeppke MD (Chair of IBI, head of ACOEM’s HPM subgroup, and, now the President of US Preventive Medicine), Andy Webber (President of the National Business Coalition on Health), Tracey Moorhead and Jeanette May of DMAA: the Care Continuum Alliance (Tracey is President and Jeanette is VP of Research), Judy Cahill (Executive Director of AMCP), Sally Greenberg (Executive Director of National Consumer League) and Dr. Joycelyn Elders, former US Surgeon General and now a mainstay in our board meetings–she provides the inspiration close to the hard work we are all doing together.

Finally, at the Annual Meeting we launched the brand new survey that we commissioned from Buck Consultants (Michael Jacobs, National Practice Leader for Buck, is now on our Board of Directors).  Our goal was to survey experienced companies for their view of value-based benefit designs.  Key learnings:  87% use the VBD approach for prevention and wellness, 60% for chronic care management, and 26% for guidance in care delivery.  Most important learnings:  engage the employees faster AND make sure to engage the physicians/pharmacists/clinicians sooner.  CHVI-BUCK VBD 2009 FINAL- Report

We’ll be posting more here, but, as I head off to the IBI-NBCH meeting in San Antonio, I was determined to get the highlights up so you could all share!  Stay tuned, there is SO much more that we’re doing.

Be well,

Cyndy

ST. LOUIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A new study confirms that employers believe value-based design (VBD) improves employee health and productivity. The Center for Health Value Innovation, the nation’s premier information exchange for value-based design, today announced the results of a survey, “Value-Based Design 2009,” conducted by Buck Consultants, a global employee benefits and human resources consulting firm.

“Value-Based Design 2009 – Survey Report January 2010”

The survey is the most comprehensive of its kind in the industry, studying 100 employers in 16 major industries, reporting on more than 1 million covered lives, including retirees.

VBD uses benefit design and delivery to align incentives for workers, employers, and providers to improve health and financial outcomes through behavior change. The survey results validate the Center’s efforts to promote VBD as an effective means to improve total health and performance across communities.

“This survey is the first one that examines the experience of companies of all sizes and sectors who had a value-based design in place for two or more years,” says Cyndy Nayer, President and CEO of the Center. “It validates the work of the Center, and expands the knowledge base of change and innovation for the market. In particular, this survey demonstrates increasing focus on employee assistance programs, depression, and financial counseling, which ties in with our goal to expand the definition of VBD and link it to total health and performance.”

Michael Jacobs, principal for Buck Consultants and member of the Center’s Board of Directors, adds, “The survey responses prove that organizations using VBD understand the vital importance of this approach. Despite the recession – when employers more likely to cut expenses by changing their benefits – few of the organizations using VBD changed their benefits structure.”

According to the survey respondents who currently have VBD incorporated into the health program for employees, 79 percent made no changes in 2009. Additionally, more than one half of these companies (56 percent) anticipate no changes in these benefits for 2010.

Other significant survey results include the use of VB levers to improve stakeholder engagement:

• 87 percent use for prevention/wellness
• 60 percent use for chronic care management
• 80 percent use for disease management
• 63 percent waive employee cost sharing for yearly screening exam
• 40 percent provide insurance premium incentive for completion of a Health Risk Assessment (HRA)
• 54 percent cover depression under care management program
• 70 percent reduce/waive co-pay for utilizing the lowest cost appropriate site of care (e.g., urgent care, convenient care, onsite services, medical travel)
• 58 percent provide incentives for the use of EAP programs
• 35 percent provide incentives for financial counseling

“With this survey we can now point to hard numbers that back up everything that we have been communicating regarding the power of VBD to transform health and the administration of health benefits in this country,” says Nayer, noting that there is still work to be done. “We see a growing expansion of value-based design, linking the health and wealth of the individual to the health and wealth of the organization.”

Nayer and Jack Mahoney, M.D., chief medical officer of the Center and former corporate medical director for Pitney Bowes, have spent the last decade showing the evidence for the widespread adoption of VBD programs. Their collective experience and expertise, coupled with co-author Jan Berger, M.D., culminated in the publication of Leveraging Health (2009). The book uses the experience of innovators in many organizations to document “suites” of levers, a metaphor for plan designs and incentives, showing decision makers how to make informed decisions on benefits and services for better corporate performance.

Dr. Mahoney lauds the Buck Consultants survey: “It is very gratifying to see statistics confirm something we have known for years. One common measurement of improved VBD activity is that 74 percent of survey respondents indicate that employees are now getting preventative exams and annual screenings. We see this as a tipping point and envision landmark changes ahead as more employers embrace VBD to drive change by improving the health and productivity of their workforce.”

To see full results from the “Value-Based Design 2009 – Survey Report January 2010” click here

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 value-based designs for sustainable health and financial improvement.
www.vbhealth.org

About Buck Consultants

Buck Consultants is a leader in human resource and benefits consulting with more than 1,500 professionals worldwide. Founded in 1916 to advise clients in establishing and funding some of the nation’s first public and private retirement programs, Buck is an innovator in the areas of retirement benefits, health and welfare programs, human capital management, compensation, and employee communication. News and other information about Buck Consultants are available at www.buckconsultants.com. Buck is an independent subsidiary of ACS, A Xerox Company.

CHVI-BUCK VBD 2009 FINAL- Report