Kriste Goad
Senior Vice President, Revive
There’s no doubt about it. The changing health care landscape, with its evolving models of care and payment, demands that hospitals and health systems build closer, more transparent, and more mutually beneficial relationships with the employers in their communities. For the first time in years, employers and providers are removing the middle man (the payor) and forming direct relationships in an effort to drive value.
It sounds simple enough. The leadership of hospitals and health systems most likely know many of the leaders of their local business community. Chances are they’re neighbors, friends, or even relatives. But when it comes to actually reaching out to the business community and engaging them in delivering value for their health care spend, there’s a disconnect. What health systems are beginning to realize, though, is that engaging employers is a vital part of the coordinated care equation.
Like any other piece of the coordinated care equation, building closer, more transparent, more mutually beneficial relationships with employers requires a plan. Once there’s a plan, it helps to know what to say and how to say it so employers know very clearly what it all means for them. It’s very much like delivering the right care in the right place at the right time.
Inevitably, though, when health care professionals talk, they use language and terminology that cause people’s eyes to glaze over. Seriously. Try it. Throw out phrases like “accountable care organization” or “patient-centered medical home” to someone in real estate or manufacturing and watch what happens. At the very least, they’ll probably think you’re talking about some sort of government program.
Yet employers outside of health care are being inundated with indecipherable information about health care from every source imaginable. We’ve talked to thousands of employers across the country about what’s going on in health care to find out what resonates, what moves the needle, and what annoys them. Here are the seven insights we’ve gleaned:
1. Lose the “mumbo jumbo.”
2. Quality is about people, and being treated like a person.
3. Demonstrate efficiency and coordinated care, and score big points.
4. Employers value wellness, and they want help from hospitals and physicians (not payors).
5. Transparency equals value, or at least the perception of it.
6. Tiered networks are just fine, thank you.
7. Choice and competition in health care are harder to understand than you think.
In the coming weeks, we will unpack each of these insights and outline the elements of a successful employer engagement effort. Like so many things in health care, building relationships and effectively communicating with employers is easier said than done. Call or email us (805.617.2832 or learnmore@revivepr.com) to learn more about our research findings and how we can help you make the connection with employers. And be sure to stay tuned…