Engaging Employers in Population Health: The Philadelphia Story

Overview: The Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH) was established in 2012 with the mission of helping employers to identify and implement best practices to promote employee health and productivity, and representing employers in efforts to improve care accessibility, affordability, quality and safety. Today, GPBCH represents 45 employers and 1.5 million covered lives. This presentation will review the rationale for establishing a regional business coalition focused on health issues, the history of GPBCH, and, through discussion of GPBCH’s initiatives, provide an overview of how a business coalition can be instrumental in addressing population health needs. Activities in the areas of obesity management and diabetes prevention, creating transparency on hospital safety, and conducting research on the relationships between community health and worker health will be used to illustrate the Coalition’s broad agenda. Objectives: 1) To recognize the increasing role that employers, as purchasers of half the nation’s healthcare, are playing in driving value improvement. 2) To identify specific strategies that business coalitions in Philadelphia and across the U.S. are implementing in pursuit of value. 3) To describe how employers can engage with other healthcare system stakeholders to further drive health system performance and value. Presentation: 52:4