Leavitt Partners Releases ‘The State of Health Care Today: How Physicians, Consumers, and Employers View Health Care Costs, Outcomes, and Reform Efforts’ White Paper

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Jan. 29 -- Leavitt Partners, a health care consulting company, issued the following news release:

Today, Leavitt Partners Health Intelligence Partners (HIP) released "The State of Health Care Today: How Physicians, Consumers, and Employers View Health Care Costs, Outcomes, and Reform Efforts," a white paper that examines physician, consumer, and employer attitudes toward both the health care system generally and reform efforts designed to contain costs and improve quality.

The paper discusses findings from national surveys of physicians, consumers, and employer benefit decision-makers. Leavitt Partners administered the surveys through Qualtrics between May 25, 2017 and July 14, 2017. Key takeaways include:

* Physicians, employer benefit decision-makers, and consumers all agree that fundamental changes are needed to make the U.S. health care system work better.

* Cost is a top concern for all three stakeholders.

* Physicians and employer benefit decision-makers agree that certain efforts will help contain costs, including increased cost transparency, better care management for heavy-utilizers of care, and more emphasis on prevention and wellness.

* Employer benefit decision-makers are much more optimistic than physicians that bundled-payments and accountable care organizations (ACOs) will help to contain costs.

Insights from this report show that although cost is a priority for all stakeholders, disagreement exists on the best ways to reduce costs. These conflicting views suggest that greater alignment of incentives across stakeholders is important to effectively move health care reform forward. "It is complicated to try to align incentives to solve cost problems when not all stakeholders see the cost problem in the same way," remarked David Muhlestein, Leavitt Partners Chief Research Officer.

"Too often the voices of those who are using the health care system, working in it, or paying the bills are not heard," said Jennifer Colamonico, Senior Director of HIP. "These surveys help strategic planners understand how changes in the health care system are being received by those who are affected most directly."

The white paper can be viewed here.

About Health Intelligence Partners

Health Intelligence Partners (HIP) is a trusted health intelligence advisory service that supports decision making in the value economy. HIP is a membership community for health care leaders in strategic roles across policy, advocacy, and business circles, and provides analysis of action and reaction both inside and outside the Beltway. HIP surveys of health care stakeholders add strategic insights by presenting the voices of those living and working in our health care system.

About Leavitt Partners:

Leavitt Partners is a health care intelligence business. The firm helps clients successfully navigate the evolving role of value in health care by informing, advising, and convening industry leaders on value market analytics, alternative payment models, federal strategies, insurance market insights, and alliances. Through its family of businesses, the firm provides investment support, data and analytics, member-based alliances, and direct services to clients to support decision-making strategies in the value economy. For more information please visit www.LeavittPartners.com.