MBGH Helping Employers Utilize Their Health Data for Value-Based Benefits Programs
to Improve Health of Employees and their Families
Midwest Health Strategy Project to promote process improvement
for managing wellness, prevention and health care costs
Cary Conway, MBGH Media Contact
CHICAGO - Today the non-profit Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) launched a new program to assist employers in coordinating and aligning their health benefits to improve health. Participating MBGH members include: Edward Health Services Corp., the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, University of Chicago, Metropolitan Chicago Healthcare Council, Rush University Medical Center, and Wolters Kluwer.
Part of a national effort known regionally as the Midwest Health Strategy Project, the initiative will help employers create a process improvement model to utilize their data and evidence-based research in developing value-based benefits and programs to improve the health of their employees and their families. A “value-based” approach is one used by employers to ensure their workforce has access to high quality, evidence-based and cost-effective health care by reducing barriers (such as waived co-pays) to essential services and incentivizing (decreased premiums) them to achieve optimal health.
“This program incorporates many of the key strategies MBGH has been promoting the past several years into a comprehensive program, being piloted at no cost to participating employers,” said Larry Boress, president and CEO of MBGH. “Employers in the project will gain the capacity to integrate and understand the health data on their covered populations, which serves as the foundation for successful health management programs.”
The initiative is part of the national American Health Strategy Project, launched by the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH) in cooperation with Pfizer Inc. The project will provide both hands-on technical and financial support to assist MBGH and their employer members in developing a complementary array of employee health offerings and incentives that better align health promotion and prevention strategies with medical and pharmaceutical plans, and other benefits such as disability, and workers’ compensation.
“Employers fund almost 60 percent of health care in the United States, often without understanding how to fully measure the value of their health investments,” said Andrew Webber, president and CEO, NBCH. “As health care costs continue to rise, more employers are recognizing the value of tailoring benefits to the health risks within their employee populations. Employers often lack the tools and models needed to collect and interpret data across a broad range of activities to make better and more informed health benefit decisions for their workforce and we hope to help overcome those barriers with this project.”
About Pfizer Inc
Pfizer applies its science and global resources to improve health and well-being at every stage of life. Consistent with Pfizer’s responsibility as the world’s leading biopharmaceutical company, Pfizer also collaborates with health care providers, governments and local communities to support and expand access to reliable, affordable health care around the world. www.pfizer.com.
About the National Business Coalition on Health
NBCH is a national, non-profit, membership organization of 56 business and health coalitions, representing over 7,000 employers and 25 million employees and their dependents across the United States. NBCH and its members are dedicated to value-based purchasing of health care services through the collective action of public and private purchasers. For additional information on NBCH, visit their website.
About the Midwest Business Group on Health
Celebrating 30 years of advancing value in health care and health benefits management, the non-profit Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) is one of the nation's leading business groups of private and public employers. MBGH's more than 100 members represent over 3 million lives, spending more than $3 billion on health care benefits annually. MBGH member benefits include educational workshops for health benefits management, networking opportunities, research, demonstration projects and community initiatives. MBGH is a founding member of the National Business Coalition on Health.