The Colorado Business Group on Health (CBGH) is pleased to announce that the State of Colorado has joined CBGH as a purchaser member. As a non-profit, multi-stakeholder coalition led by Colorado-based employers seeking to improve healthcare quality and cost trends, CBGH has provided market research and summaries as well as strategies and tools that support […] Read Article
“A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.” Charles Kettering Clearly health care presents both significant challenges, as well as opportunities for employers as health care purchasers. With wide, wild, and apparently unwarranted variations in both provider pricing and quality (the two components of “value”), the opportunity to improve the value proposition of health care […] Read Article
Our Theme and Commitment for 2018 The opportunities to make health care work better for all Coloradans – better clinically and more affordably for patients, better financially for purchasers, better professionally and administratively simpler for providers, and better economically for communities – are both numerous and significant. And, though illusive, they are achievable. To realize […] Read Article
Employers who wish to improve the value-proposition of health care for both their employees and themselves must address both the supply and the demand variables in the equation. In the final part of this series on the Healthcare Value Problem, we’ll discuss two strategies that purchasers can use to buy more health, not more healthcare: […] Read Article
In Part One of this three-part series, I argue that employers must distinguish between results and causes in order to avoid feeling helpless in the face of healthcare’s intimidating complexity. Employers – who finance our commercial health market – must get to the root cause. To do this, we must start by conducting a root cause analysis. […] Read Article
Bob Smith, Executive Director In our recent survey, CBGH members unanimously agreed with the statement, “Overall, we’re as concerned about the quality of care our employees receive as the costs.” I take them at their word. Aside from the fact that Colorado employers pay so dearly for healthcare[1], employers clearly have a vested interest in […] Read Article
In 2016, an employer-sponsored PPO health plan for an American family of four cost an average of $25,826 – an eye-popping three-fold increase over 2001 when it was $8,414. That is the key finding recently released in the medical index report assembled by Milliman, a global consulting actuary. But it is not the only significant observation Milliman makes. Others include: Although the […] Read Article
Dameron, Tom. “If Not Now, When? What Employers Need to Know in Order To Manage Health Costs.” Common sense is not always that common in our health care system. We have the best doctors in the world and the best medical technology in the world. Why don’t we have the best health care system […] Read Article
With Donna Marshall’s recent retirement after 20 years, it seems appropriate to articulate, reflect on, and perhaps reaffirm, the key concepts that motivate us at CBGH. While healthcare and the economics that shape its delivery can be complex and difficult to understand, the following concepts are really quite simple – and central to our efforts. […] Read Article
As businessballs.com points out, “Dr. Stephen Covey (1932-2012) remains a hugely influential management guru.” His best-selling book, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,[1] has not only been used by millions as “a blueprint for personal development,” but it continues to provide guidance for “any other aspect of human responsibility that you might imagine.” With […] Read Article