The Health Plan Innovation Conversation

Centiments is a monthly newsletter from Centivo, an innovative health plan for self-funded employers, on a mission to bring affordable, high-quality healthcare to the millions of workers who struggle to pay their medical bills. Our Innovation issue focuses on the advancements in affordability and access possible when employers pursue change over the status quo.

Report: Employers as health plan disruptors

This summer, Centivo surveyed employers and brokers to better understand their priorities and openness to health plan innovation. While there was across-the-board agreement the industry is ripe for overhaul, the results revealed brokers may underestimate employers’ willingness to embrace change. Sign up for early access to the Centivo Employer-Broker Health Plan Trends Survey report to read the results and fuel your own innovation conversations.??

A HLTH-y discussion at HLTH USA 2022

This week, Centivo CEO Ashok Subramanian joined the conversation at HLTH 2022, an event designed to address and inspire health innovation. Ashok and several other forward-thinking CEOs / founders were part of a panel that debated the nuanced models of employer-led health care, the shift toward customized, consumer-centric benefits options and who ultimately pays for the cost of care. As important as the thoughtful conversation: the critical need for all players involved to commit to affordability and authentic change.

“Self-insured employers are purchasers of healthcare – not purchasers of insurance. As a purchaser of healthcare, it is your responsibility to know how much healthcare costs where your workforce resides. There are massive variations in costs you now have the ability to do something about… If you’re not committing as an organization to offer an affordable health plan, that’s something that will, over the long term, hurt you in the war for talent.” - Ashok Subramanian, CEO, Centivo at HLTH 2022

Raising the virtual care bar

In the spirit of innovation, Centivo announced this week that our Virtual Primary Care practice has received Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Recognition by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane said, “Recognition shows that Centivo Virtual Primary Care has the tools, systems and resources to provide its patients with the right care, at the right time.”

“Being recognized as one of the first virtual Patient-Centered Medical Homes is a proud and exciting moment for all of us here at Centivo and our Virtual Primary Care team. From the beginning, we have built our virtual capabilities to make the patient experience equivalent to best-in-class advanced primary care. The PCMH recognition is a true honor and validation of our approach and success.” -?Dr. Wayne Jenkins , Chief Medical Officer, Centivo

We have to be bold

At a recent Delivering Value Series symposium titled “Employers as Health Care Change Agents: The Time is Now,” hosted by the Business Health Care Group , panelists from Morgan Health , Gist Healthcare , Ascension and Centivo discussed the intrepid steps needed to move the healthcare value needle and drive more affordable, sustainable solutions. “We don’t get there by waiting for it to happen,” said Todd Smasal, vice president of total rewards and talent at Northwestern Mutual. You can view a video of the program, presenters’ slides and a background presentation.??

“We have a responsibility to drive consumerism for our employees and their dependents by sharing better information about what they're buying, how much it costs and whether there's value in what they're buying.”- Rivka Friedman , Head of Healthcare Innovation, Morgan Health at the BHCG Delivering Value Series symposium

Getting unstuck

Doctors want to provide the best possible care. Employers want to improve employee health. But the entire community is seemingly stuck in a fee-for-service hamster wheel. This month on the Relentless Health Value podcast, Dan Mendelson , CEO of Morgan Health at JPMorgan Chase discusses real ways employers can chart a new direction to improve outcomes and affordability with “5 Things Self-insured Employers Should Do Right Now” (also covered in his Forbes article).???

The costs of the status quo

The Centivo stat of the month for November 2022 comes from the Kaiser Family Foundation 2022 Employer Health Benefits Survey. Left unchecked, sky-high deductibles continue to creep up, and are a leading cause of care avoidance, medical debt and bankruptcy. Centivo has an innovative solution to tip the scales.

Finding your road to innovation

Employers: Ready to make some changes, but not sure where to start? Download our free guide, “How Healthy is Your Health Plan?” It walks through seven key areas for evaluating your current health plan to identify changes you can start planning now and for the months ahead.

An innovation invitation

Centivo built a health plan employees can actually afford to use, with no deductibles, free primary care, simple copays and real savings for employers. We invite you to join our next online 20-minute live Centivo demo on December 13 at 2 pm ET. If you can’t make that session, sign up for a future one.?Register here.