Creating New Models for Aggregating Health Care Purchasing Volume

This project aims to increase understanding of how employers and other health care purchasers could aggregate their buying power to make the health care marketplace responsive to their needs. Relying on a mix of research techniques, from literature review to interviews, Catalyst for Payment Reform will seek to: investigate why past efforts to aggregate volume have typically failed, and why the few efforts that have succeeded were not sustainable or scalable; assess options available to purchasers through health plans and their likelihood of driving high-value care; identify emerging vendors that could disrupt traditional insurers and third-party administrators; learn from providers about what makes them willing to partner or contract directly with employers; and analyze legal and regulatory barriers to aggregating volume.