Benefits to Membership in the Maine Health Management Coalition

Contribute to Strong, Consistent Employer/Purchaser Voice:

Join other employers in Maine’s best forum for direct dialogue among senior executives from leading hospitals, physician groups, health plans, and businesses – a seat at the table that is forging the future direction for healthcare reform in Maine.

Add your company’s voice to that of other employers to leverage the dialogue with providers and plans.

Leverage Your Status as an Engaged Employer and Purchaser:

Develop joint programs with other employers to:
- Align RFP’s to plans to move the market.
- Promote reimbursement reform to remove current perverse incentives that reward volume rather than quality of services.
- Promote effective, provider-based chronic disease care management programs to augment remote, plan-based case/disease management.
- Encourage or create health plan products that incorporate principles of value-based insurance design.
- Support standardized measurement and reporting of provider performance.
- Contain the rate of increase in health care costs

Take Part in an Active Learning Community:

MHMC’s members regularly share best practices in benefit design, health benefits purchasing, and employee health and wellness through several committees and work groups. MHMC’s leadership and staff serve on numerous national and state organizations dedicated to healthcare value, and all knowledge is shared with the membership. MHMC also hosts a number of members-only educational programs during the year.

Provide your company a convenient way to stay abreast of the latest trends in healthcare and health benefits.
Access leading national initiatives from organizations like the National Business Coalition on Health, National Quality Forum, the Leapfrog Group, Bridges to Excellence, National Committee on Quality Assurance, Consumer/Purchaser Disclosure Group, and others.

Get Recognized as a Healthcare Leader:

Providers, health plans and other employers recognize MHMC’s members as being committed to improving the quality of care delivered and the health of the communities in which we all live and work.

Make Smarter Business Decisions with Comprehensive Data Analytics:

MHMC’s members contribute claims data to a proprietary claims data warehouse. MHMC retains Health Data Management Solutions, a standard setting data management and analytic services company, to maintain this database and to provide analysis and reporting to members. This optional membership benefit is available to our member organizations that provide health benefits to 100 or more employees in Maine.

Compare costs, utilization and experience to that of other Maine employers.
Request customized reports on your own experience.
Compare health benefits to employers representing 35% of Maine’s commercial market.
Understand the disease prevalence and profile of your employees to better target benefits and wellness programs.
Better understand the drivers of cost such as variation in quality, utilization, efficiency and cost.

Support Your Company’s Effort to Implement Value Based Purchasing Strategies:

MHMC’s members are incorporating the four pillars of Value Based Purchasing into their healthcare purchasing strategy, which, according to the National Business Coalition on Health and DHHS, must be present in a market to allow employers to implement a Value Based Purchasing strategy. The four pillars are: standardized performance measures, publicly available information on cost and quality, outcome based payment reform, and patient engagement.

Standardized performance measures: MHMC’s Pathways to Excellence (PTE) program is leading a successful effort in Maine that produces standardized provider performance measures that are vetted and endorsed by Maine’s leading providers and plans and the National Quality Forum.

Publicly available information on cost and quality: MHMC produces comparative performance data on physicians and hospitals that has been tested with consumers and has been shown to be understandable and useful to employees and dependents.

Participate in MHMC’s Reimbursement Reform workgroup that includes hospital CFO’s, physician practice leaders, contracting specialists from health plans and employers. This group is developing innovative payment systems that will reward outcomes rather than units of service. Aetna, Cigna and individual MHMC members have used these payment systems to reward providers in Maine.

Participate in MHMC’s Employee Activation Users Group and join other employers in delivering a consistent message to employees and dependents.
Access MHMC’s plug and play toolkit of employee educational materials and media.
MHMC has leveraged its members’ investment in this area by participating in Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grants valued at $1.5 million to further develop Consumer Engagement in Maine. This initiative allows MHMC to draw on the collective learning of national experts and thirteen other communities across the country who are implementing consumer engagement initiatives. Membership would allow your company to access nationally recognized best practices for engaging employees and dependents.

Outcome Based Payment Reform: MHMC encourages the use of outcomes based payment systems like Accounable Care Organizations (ACOs) and Patient-Centered Medical Homes (PCMHs) with accountable care payment methodologies.

Patient Engagement: MHMC’s Employee Activation Initiative provides messaging and logistical support for its members to communicate the importance of quality and the use of performance information to employees and dependents.