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Member LoginGet and Use Health Data to Fulfill Your Fiduciary Duty
Employees have a fundamental right to access their own health information and employers have an obligation to use it. Aneesh Chopra, Chair of Arcadia Institute, explains why employers should negotiate for the right to access that same health information in every contract with a TPA or other solution, not just for internal analysis, but to help employees navigate to the best setting for the care they need. He also makes the case for playing offense and defense on fiduciary duty, demanding price transparency, and leaning on the right partner to simplify the complexity of it all.
3 things employers need to know about their fiduciary duty to access and use health data
You can’t be a good fiduciary without the data. Without access to health data, it’s difficult to know the right doctor, the right treatment protocol, or the right programs to keep employees healthy. This is why employers should negotiate the right to access the same health information when contracting with TPAs and other solutions, both for analysis and to help employees navigate to the best care.
Play offense and defense. Employers have an obligation to analyze the health information available to them to ensure dollars are being spent appropriately, and that every employee gets the best care at the right setting and the right time.
Demand price transparency. The variation that exists in the prices negotiated and paid across employer populations can be shocking. Apples-to-apples comparisons on critical services are an important step toward accountability and negotiating the best possible price for the care delivered.
The ability to access the right information shouldn’t be the burden of every individual employer to carry alone. Aneesh points out that one of the benefits of working with an innovative partner, like Transcarent, is that the complexity of accessing and using health information can be simplified, it should be reasonable, actionable, and appropriate for your population. Partnership is the key: taking on the responsibility together, in a spirit of collaboration.
My name is Aneesh Chopra and I know how to get and use health information to fulfill your fiduciary obligations. And now you know too.
Employers have an obligation to take advantage of today's opportunity to access the health information that will help them be proper fiduciaries. They've got to be able to analyze the information to ensure they're spending dollars appropriately, and ideally, that they're using that information to ensure all of their employees get the best care at the right setting and at the right time.
If you don't have information about your health status, it's very difficult to understand the right doctor for you, the right treatment protocol to make sure that you stay healthy, and the programs that are ideally suited for you to reduce the burden of chronic disease.
As employers negotiate contracts with TPAs and other solutions, they should negotiate the right to access the same health information that can be used for their analysis purposes, but also to help employees navigate to the best setting for the care that's needed.
Employers should be thinking a little bit of offense and defense as it relates to their fiduciary obligations.
I am shocked at how much variation there is in the prices that are negotiated and paid throughout our commercial and employer populations.
Apples to apples comparisons on prices for critical services. To make sure we can negotiate and receive the best prices for the care that's been delivered. This is a critical step in accountability.
One of the benefits of working with a firm like Transcarent is a lot of the complexity of accessing and using this information can be simplified by partners who are aligned to work with you to make this information reasonable, actionable, and appropriate for your population. To me, partnership is the key.
This shouldn't be the burden of every individual employer in the country, but that one we could take together in a spirit of collaboration.
