Dig Deeper
Potentially, a very big one. After the federal government, employers are the second largest buyer of health care. Some employers have leveraged their considerable market power to push for improvements from hospitals and health plans, but most employers typically exert very little control over the cost or quality of what they buy.
AF4Q aims to motivate employers to use their market muscle to support healthy behaviors and to communicate directly with both health plans and employees to improve care at a manageable cost.
1. Joining purchaser coalitions.
2. Analyzing their benefit design.
3. Not being afraid of clinical knowledge.
4. Treating relationships with health insurers and providers as they would other vendor relationships.
5. Demanding constant improvement.
6. Communicating with employees about their role in quality and cost issues.
7. Counting quality and making quality count—using comparative information to create meaningful incentives for employees and their families to choose providers offering value.
In the Aligning Forces community in Cincinnati, the Health Collaborative offered employers a simple tool to help them reach out to employees and offer them access to the latest quality-of-care data without leaving the employer’s website.
Employers work with Alliances in a variety of ways including: learning how to use comparative data in public reports; learning best practices in communicating with employees about quality and cost; and participating in meetings to address common interests.
What are some ways consumers can help improve health care?
Leadership positions and health care activism are a good start
How do we attract employers to partner with us to improve health care quality?
Show them the benefit.
Do consumers find certain performance measures—such as readmissions and avoidable complications data—useful?
Yes, but there must be context.
How do I get consumer feedback on my website?
There are several steps to take.
What tools exist to help me become an effective consumer leader?
AF4Q has helpful guidance.
How do I incorporate consumer engagement into my organization’s strategic plan?
Make it a priority.
- Why do consumers need to know how much things cost?
- How do we help employers maintain their interest and energy in our partnership?
- What role do employers play in improving care quality?
- What frameworks can I use to engage and activate consumers?
- What are the benefits of personal health records?
- What is the Consumer Engagement Leadership Consortium?
- Where should I incorporate consumers into my practice or hospital?
- How do you explain the idea of “high-quality health care"?
- How do I clarify my role as a consumer within my organization or Alliance?
- How do I become a better consumer leader?