...The Search for Value: Increasing frustration around rapidly rising healthcare costs have driven employers' search for non-traditional healthcare arrangements that provide financial incentives to more effectively manage annual healthcare spending for their employees. In response, healthcare providers have begun entering into direct contracting relationships with large and medium size employers in which they assume a financial stake tied to the overall healthcare cost for an employer's covered workers. Two Approaches to Direct Contracting: Increasing interest in sharing risk and reward has led to direct contracting between employers and providers that can be largely divided into two categories. First, regional health systems with sufficient geographic coverage and a broad array of clinical services across the continuum of care are exploring risk sharing contracts to manage the overall healthcare cost of a local employer's covered population. Secondly, highly recognized providers that can...
