Teresa Couts, Stephanie Clouser, Natalie Middaugh, and I traveled to Chicago last week for the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions spring meeting and the National Health Leadership Council meeting. The spring coalition meeting is an opportunity for coalitions to learn from one another and to discuss strategic direction of the National Alliance.
National Alliance President and CEO, Mike Thompson, discussed the organization’s refined mission and its new agenda. With healthcare spending expected to reach 20 percent of GDP by 2025, the need for purchasers/employers to engage in solving healthcare at the local level has never been greater. The themes of the coalition discussion focused on healthcare price, waste, and quality, along with the need to improve employee well-being.
During a round robin of coalition sharing, Stephanie Clouser presented the work of the Performance Measures Alignment Committee (PMAC) and the development of the Kentucky Core Healthcare Measures Set. Several coalitions have reached out to Stephanie to learn more about the KHC/Kentucky Department for Medicaid Service work to establish a core set of healthcare quality measures in the Commonwealth. Natalie Middaugh presented the draft of the KHC’s provider guide for the Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for opioid use disorder, which will be released this summer. Natalie Middaugh will participate on a National Alliance opioid affinity group to continue to share and learn from other sister coalitions working on opioid-related community issues.
On the second day of the spring meeting, the National Health Leadership Council (NHLC) and the coalitions met to discuss purchaser priorities and opportunities. The NHLC is an affiliate group made up of leading national organizations ranging from health plans, pharmaceutical and provider organizations, accreditation and advocacy organizations, employer-focused organizations, and industry stakeholders. The topics of the meeting included:
- Advancing the Value Agenda in a Changing Marketplace
- Payment Reform – Purchaser Value Network: Capstone Summary
- Leveraging Medicare Bundles Framework
- Obesity and Mental Health
- NHLC Member presentations on collaboration opportunities
If you are interested in healthcare purchaser innovation, be sure to mark your calendar for the National Alliance’s 23rd annual forum on November 12-14 in Washington, DC. KHC members receive special discount pricing. Each year, this event brings employers of all sizes and industries together to learn from one another, network with other healthcare stakeholders and to learn about effective approaches to managing the health and wellbeing of their workforce from the leading innovators in healthcare and business. This three-day event provides learning opportunities through interactive sessions, educational discussions, employer roundtables, demonstrations and exhibit floor events that all encourage networking sharing and learning. This year’s topics include innovative approaches and strategies to wellbeing, population health, employee empowerment, special sessions on healthcare policy, and updates on the AHCA along with other emerging healthcare topics.
