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The Role of Employers in Community Health Care Systems Health Affairs |
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Association Leaders Speak Out on Health System Change Health Affairs |
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The Community Snapshots Project Compilation of Snapshots |
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Snapshots of Change in Fifteen Communities:
Impact of Purchasing Strategies on Local Health Care Systems
Summer 1996
Health Affairs, vol.15, no.2 (Summer 1996): 62-76
Debra J. Lipson, Jeanne M. De Sa
fforts to control health care costs increasingly rely on purchasers
to seek the best value for their investment. In this examination of purchasing strategies
in fifteen communities, most purchasers employed traditional strategies to reduce their
direct cost, such as shifting costs to employees and switching from indemnity to managed
care plans. Fewer purchasers - mostly large companies, public agencies, and coalitions -
were using more resource-intensive strategies such as direct contracting with providers or
selecting plans based on quality to improve value or efficiency. Although both sets of
strategies might help to reduce costs, they are not yet changing the delivery of health
care in local communities.
Free access to this article is available at the Health Affairs Web site.
