For providers and payers to maintain the momentum in forming value-based agreements, insurers need to have their "feet planted squarely in two areas, according to Lisa White, Director of value-based partner transformation at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.
First, Ms. White emphasized having "focused and detailed" conversations about what population health management truly means. In her eyes, to move the needle on broad population health, focusing on specific individuals and building outward is key, she said on "Becker's Payer Issues Podcast."
Second, the pandemic forced payers and providers to collaborate, and Ms. White said continuing to build mutual trust and collaboration will be a priority. Providers and payers must break down a decades-old dynamic that one party must justify their actions for the other.
Below is an excerpt from the podcast. Listen to the full interview here.
Lisa White: It's that whole "us versus them," "provider against payer" dynamic, that's been in play forever. I want our provider partners to trust that we have a vested interest in helping them succeed in a program and that we're acting to provide them the very best information to help them do just that. Obviously in value-based, if we're not rewarding our partners at the end of a program year, it's a shared failure.
So I think it's those two things. I think we need to have a shared understanding and hyper focus on population health management and then a shared trust on the data that we're both seeing and how we're acting on it.