IFEBP Offers Framework for Value-Based Health Care Strategies

July 17, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – A report, “Value-Based Health Care White Paper,” identifies existing value-based health care (VBHC) practices used by multiemployer and public employee health plans and provides a framework for building cultures of health.

In a recent survey from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), employers said they are more likely to implement value-based health care (VBHC) strategies after the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (see “Reaction to Health Care Ruling Differs by Sectors”). “The basic premise behind value-based health care is to create a culture of health that enables plan participants to stay well, helps sick people improve and provides the best care for each dollar spent,” said IFEBP CEO Michael Wilson.   

According to the Foundation’s white paper, multiemployer and public employee plans engaged in VBHC activities are finding early successes in all areas of the initiative. This includes participation in health fairs, working with effective providers, and encouraging participants to take prescribed medications. Plans that have been engaged in VBHC initiatives over several years are finding evidence that employees’ health improves and workers take fewer sick days.   

The white paper identifies several items that help plans succeed and several areas that can challenge a plan’s success.  

“Regardless of how VBHC is initiated within organizations, it is the single best strategy to achieve healthy, energetic, and high-performing employees while managing health care costs,” said Wilson.  

For more information, visit http://www.ifebp.org/vbhc.

«