And in the all talk and no action department…

Ian Morrison and Bob Leitman used to go around America calling employers’ attitude towards buying health care for their employees“cranky, confused, aimless and spineless”….that was in the early 1990s. It’s all different now, eh?  Well not quite. Deloitte survyed 71 big employers to find out how they were cracking the P4P whip on the system.

The joint Center/ERIC study looked at the views and attitudes of 71 major employers on value-based purchasing, also known as “pay for performance.” Some 10 percent of respondents are currently engaged in value-based reimbursement programs with health plans and/or provider networks, indicating a growing receptiveness to developing regional or pilot programs. However, 38 percent of surveyed employers are waiting for more concrete evidence that the concept can deliver a better return on investment.

Hmm.. so only 10% of big employers are doing anything about P4P. Employees working for employers with more than 1,000 employees represent about 13% of the private sector workforce (yup I scouted the Stat Abstract for that number). So less than 2% of employers are doing anything about P4P. In other words not enough for providers to take note of, so nothing will happen until Medicare makes its move.