National Alliance & IBI Build Capacity on Patient-Centered Benefit Program Strategies

Background: There is an increased demand for enhanced patient and stakeholder engagement to improve health and workforce performance outcomes through the lens of patient-centered care. In addition, there are a number of patient groups and research institutions that have developed successful evidence-based trainings/programs. Unfortunately, they’ve been challenged to have findings appropriately deployed so that key end-users can benefit from their research insights. Research indicates that while several successful best-practice approaches have been identified, these results have not been optimally utilized by key end-users, including employers, their vendor partners, and the workforces they serve.

Proposed Solution to the Problem: The National Alliance and the Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) will develop and implement an action plan to assess the needs of employers and their workforce to better understand how employers contribute to improving the quality, experience, and engagement in patient care, and how that care can motivate the deployment of patient-centered outomes research findings. The goal of the action plan is to realign stakeholder efforts to better meet the needs of these key end-users and ensure understanding of potential employer-related confounders of research results interpretation for inclusion in research design considerations. The action plan will also evaluate how evidence-based research is currently utilized within the employer plan sponsor community and identify best practices for ensuring research is relevant and impactful. The action plan will include reference to health outcome and process measures relevant to employers and other healthcare stakeholders and provide recommended actions for both upstream and downstream impact. Finally, the action plan will inform the dissemination of qualified tools/trainings/ programs to better align research community approaches with the health management needs and goals of the employer plan sponsor community.

Objectives: To determine employers’ current state in providing patient care and develop an action plan that enhances alignment with all relevant stakeholders. This includes conducting workshops for the employer community as well as the broader research community.

Activities:

• Phase 1: Build Framework and Examine Current State
• Phase 2: Refine Framework and Develop Action Plan
• Phase 3: Mobilize Initial Education, Socialization, and Dissemination
• Phase 4: Develop Final Report and Disseminate

Outcomes (projected): Defining relevant patient-centered outcomes for employers in order to influence programs and policies that affect health and healthcare delivery through their benefits programs and through the delivery systems that provide care to the workforce and their families. A list of recommended actions for both upstream and downstream impact in order to improve access to evidence-based strategies and better align research community approaches with the health management needs and goals of the employer plan sponsor community.

Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan: This project will serve to expand measurement of value beyond cost to include measures meaningful to employers, including work status and productivity, enabling a more comprehensive assessment of value—particularly in comparison to other similar alternatives

Project Collaborators: The National Alliance is a national 501(c)6 membership organization of an established member network of purchaser-led healthcare coalitions. It has become a convener of diverse stakeholders nationally/regionally to work through challenges and develop opportunities to support an integrative and proactive healthcare system. It will work in partnership with IBI, a nationally recognized independent research/benchmarking organization with a membership of 1,300+ organizations. IBI has the research expertise necessary and understands the implications of specific PCORI-funded research to the health and productivity of their organizations.