Expanding Health Care Coverage

By

United Hospital Fund

Funding Area

Expanding Health Care Coverage

Date

May 29, 2015

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A new United Hospital Fund report, supported by NYHealth, examines patient engagement strategies in the commercial insurance market in New York State.

Plans and providers are using new methods to spur members and patients to play an active role in their health care.

Although findings were mixed on the evidence to date as to which programs are most effective, it is clear that these efforts are growing. The growth in the last two years of the individual insurance market in New York has spurred greater incentives to attract consumers with patient-centered approaches.

The report is organized around the factors driving the development and limits of patient engagement: the regulatory framework, employers, health plans, and providers.

The report details some existing models and offers ideas for improving patient engagement in New York. For example, it identifies the need for greater coordination, or deferred responsibility, between plans and providers related to care management activities; the need to reassess current statutes and regulations that may be impacting patient engagement efforts; the need to assess and incorporate patient preferences and perspectives in these programs; and opportunities for effective patient engagement methods in group employer plans to be translated to the burgeoning individual market.

Based on interviews with health plan representatives, brokers, regulators, providers, business leaders, and consumer advocates, as well as in-depth research, the report is a first look at a growing feature of health care for New Yorkers.