The risky business of cutting costs — How this company is lowering costs without raising prices for employers

Salt Lake City, Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare, a nonprofit health system, is promising to lower costs without increasing prices for its customers, according to NY Times.

Here are six takeaways:

1. Intermountain Healthcare's new health plan, SelectHealth Share, will implement year rate increases, which are one-third to one-half less than what most employers across the nation usually pay.

2. Over the next five years, the nonprofit claims it will generate savings reaching $2 billion.

3. The company has already yielded savings through negotiating the cost of surgical staplers. By putting manufacturers in direct competition with each other, Intermountain saved $235,000 annually.

4. Intermountain also generated $639,000 each year by making sure heart attack patients get into the catheterization lab within 90 minutes of emergency room contact, thus helping patients recover quicker.

5. The move could result in large financial losses for Intermountain, especially if the company has to spend a great deal of money on patient care. The company agreed to pay for nearly a third of its patients' care for a fixed amount if patient care costs increase too much because the company failed to keep enough of its patients healthy or because treatments were too pricey.

6. Intermountain ensures employers take more responsibility for their health by requiring them to participate in programs like health risk assessments or health screenings. Employers may have to hire a digital coach who will encourage them to engage in an active lifestyle.

More articles on coding & billing:
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