The "Buy Side": Leveraging Purchasing Power

As one of the largest purchasers of health care, employers are uniquely positioned to push for changes in how care is delivered and paid for, furthering efforts to create a high-quality, high-value system. However, employers often face barriers to being a change agent. In some markets, an employer’s leverage isn’t enough to move the market. By engaging employers and other stakeholders to work collaboratively, AF4Q has provided employers with the information and resources they need to negotiate more effectively with health plans and providers to transform local delivery systems. This session highlighted how three AF4Q communities have worked with public and private employers to strengthen their market influence through a collective voice and leverage their purchasing power to push for changes to benefit design, care delivery, and payment systems in their region.