Health Rosetta Dallas

Top Takeaways from The Health Rosetta Summit in Dallas

The Health Rosetta team descended upon Dallas just a few weeks ago to host their semi-annual summit. The theme was “Rehumanizing Health Plans that Restore Health, Hope, and Well-Being in our Communities”.  That was a big topic, and the contributors to the subject most definitely exhibit those behaviors and we can learn from all of them.

The Star-Studded Lineup of Presenters

If you stop here, just go find these thought-leaders on LinkedIn or through old-fashion Google-stalking.  You’ll get enough inspiration once you connect with them.

• Dr. Marty Makary, author of The Price We Pay
• Dave Chase, author of Rehumanizing Health Plans and The CEO’s Guide to Restoring the American Dream
• Dr. Chris Crow, President of the Catalyst Health Network
• Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle, Co-founder and CEO of Iora Health
• Jay Parkinson, Founder of Sherpaa and Chief Designer of Crossover Health
• Marilyn Bartlett, Named Fortunes’ “World’s Top 50 leaders” in 2019, and has an awesome personal email address I won’t disclose, and current Senior Policy Fellow at NASHP.

What was the big theme that everyone had in common at Health Rosetta Dallas?

Well, let’s start with two presumptions that most presenters found to be true. Number 1- America’s healthcare system is fixable and we are contributors to that fix.  And, number 2- the Patient is really smart when empowered with information and access to physicians who are incentivized to interact differently than in a fee-for-service model.

So, with those to foundational building blocks, many of the presentations focused on keeping the Primary Care physician central to the care journey.  And, if you pay for your Primary Care Costs, in a way that removes it from the rest of the healthcare payment system, you get a much different outcome.  The models of Direct Primary Care, DPC, and Virtual Primary Care were touched on often in these discussions as all presenters have found that some form of Value-Based Primary Care is key for a high-functioning health plan and actually improving the health of employees and their families instead of just treating symptomatic episodes of illness.  The graphic from Iora Health displays this well:

The other big theme that piggy-backed on the discussion of a high-functioning Primary Care system was really digging into not just the PCP’s payment model, but also beginning to understand where the money goes, and why and where it becomes extracted from the actual business of providing health.  Marilyn Bartlett’s presentation on “Follow the Money in Health Systems” really encompassed the idea that our system can be the worst value-extractor at times–and these are often unintended consequences of well meaning policies that have gone awry over time.

So, what does this mean for my company’s health plan?

Well, the first thing, is to ask the question, “Am I going to participate by investing in the same type of health plans that reward these misaligned incentives?”

If the answer is “no”, then you have some easy steps to take to move forward on a new path.

First, the Health Rosetta, provides several free resources for employers.  Here are my top 3 and these are good foundation items to use like the:

1. Advisor Compensation Disclosure Form
2. Plan Sponsor Bill of Rights
3. Employer Membership to the Monthly Education sessions (email me for the link)

For a deeper dive, If you want to score your current health plan and identify areas to improve, let us walk you through the Plan Grader.

And, start asking questions like:

1. Do my employees get rewarded for smarter healthcare decisions?
2. Can we purchase healthcare cheaper than through a PPO contract?
3. What would a Virtual Clinic, Near-site Clinic, or Direct Primary Care relationship look like for our company?
4. Would our health insurance rates go down immediately or next year or at all?
5. How can we create a five year strategy instead of reacting 90 days before renewal?

The end result?

There are many additional areas to address and practical steps to fix healthcare in our companies. We should absolutely share the successes and struggles with others on this same journey. And, just imagine how great the competitive advantage could be for your company if you were the transformational leader in your industry or local community. Your culture will perpetuate a reduction in your healthcare costs, empower employees to be healthier, and give your company a “why” unmatched in your industry.