Dive Brief:
- Large employers can help address many of the challenges that currently remain in the efforts toward healthcare reform, according to a recent Harvard Business Review article.
- The points were written in response to President Obama's recent JAMA article that discussed the difficulties in instituting change while facing “hyperpartisanship” and “special interests," as authors Robert S. Mecklenburg and Lindsay A. Martin noted.
- "We think all is not hopeless," they wrote, "and that large employers can play a powerful role in building on what the ACA and other initiatives have achieved to date."
Dive Insight:
Among the solutions are cooperation in establishing quality standards, the authors argued, noting that buyers and sellers of healthcare currently lack a common vocabulary and the same understanding of quality and value.
They note that examples of markets in Seattle and Portland show progress can be achieved by engaging multiple providers and employers in a discussion supported by medical evidence.
"In most markets, the current community standard for quality consists of 'yestercare' models in which quality is opinion-based and providers compete on the basis of subjective reputations, market clout, and politics," the authors argued. "Changing this antiquated approach to defining quality starts with cooperation in the market, not competition."
The second point looks at fostering competition among providers based on adhering to the agreed upon standards, eliminating any room for special interests to be considered.
Finally, the authors argue purchasing power and quality standards can effectively be used to resolve conflicts by forcing providers in a market or system to align. By doing so, "Solutions become practical and efficient rather than ideology-based," they said.