The Benefits of Value-Based Care for Employers and Employees

While the fee-for-service model has been the prevailing approach in healthcare, a system of value-based care that benefits workers and employers alike could soon replace this outdated model.
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The National Business Group on Health anticipates that the annual coverage cost for employers will soon increase to almost $15,000 per employee. That’s a pretty astonishing figure, especially for small- to mid-sized businesses, and it’s a number that could be unsustainable for many companies. With healthcare costs increasing across the board and employees growing less willing to cover large percentages of their care, employers are seeking innovative health plan designs aimed at reducing the high cost of healthcare.

Specifically, more companies are expressing interest in value-based models designed to reduce costs and mitigate the instances and effects of chronic illness — and with good reason. According to a recent Deloitte analysis, over half of all commercial healthcare funds are spent on just 5% of those insured, and 27% of all healthcare funds are spent on just 1% of those insured. These numbers express the need for a more balanced approach to healthcare that helps improve short- and long-term health while spreading healthcare costs more evenly among those seeking and receiving treatment.

Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of value-based care and how providing health plans that utilize this emerging approach could result in significant savings for your company and better outcomes for your valued employees.

What Is Value-Based Care?

In simple terms, value-based care is an evidence-based healthcare approach in which providers are incentivized to improve patient health outcomes, reduce chronic disease, and empower their patients to live healthier lives. It’s focused on delivering great care with lasting effects for patients rather than providing more care, which can be redundant, ineffective, and cost-prohibitive for individuals and their families.

This delivery model contrasts with the more traditional fee-for-service method in which providers are often incentivized to provide higher volumes of care regardless of efficacy. Value-based care is also heavily focused on preventive, rather than reactionary, care. We shouldn’t wait for illness or injury to strike to begin making thoughtful and meaningful health interventions.

What Are the Benefits of Value-Based Care?

Value-based care has numerous benefits for your business and your employees alike. When employers work with their selected carriers and health systems to develop predictive modeling and understand practice patterns, they gain a better understanding of which staff members are consuming the most treatment. This allows them to target those employees and make helpful, anonymous healthcare suggestions — including prescription reminders and providing information about local health coaches, dieticians, and trainers.

Healthier employees are more productive employees, less prone to absenteeism and presenteeism, and more focused on their work, which translates into a more stable and profitable business. Further, by offering attractive value-based health plans in your benefits portfolios, your company will attract and retain more talented professionals to help meet and exceed your organization’s goals.

Since value-based care is all about providing patients with appropriate and effective treatment, one obvious benefit for your workers is that they’ll be better equipped to prevent the development of chronic conditions — such as cancer, diabetes, or high blood pressure. And for your employees who are already living with chronic conditions, value-based care helps them manage their symptoms and recover more quickly with less time spent away from the office or work site.

This means your staff members will make fewer trips to the doctor’s office, urgent care, or emergency room, and they will schedule fewer tests, labs, and procedures to understand and treat potential conditions. As their health improves, they will also spend less on prescription medication, rehabilitative services, and other forms of follow-up treatment. And for those employees who have recently received a potentially grave diagnosis, such as cancer or heart disease, knowing that they have the full support of their employer through a health plan that values outcomes over costs could make a meaningful impact on their approach to their illness.

Canopy Health Proudly Embraces the Value-Based Care Model

At Canopy Health, we believe in producing optimal health outcomes for our patients, keeping costs low, and avoiding repetitive, redundant, and ineffective treatment. That’s why we’ve created the largest single-provider healthcare network in the Bay Area and teamed up with some of the most reputable and reliable health plans in California.

Reference:

Thomas, S. (2018, October 2). What strategies are really helping employers control health care costs? Deloitte. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/life-sciences-and-health-care/articles/health-care-current-october2-2018.html