Memphis Business Group on Health and HealthCare 21 Business Coalition Awarded Grant for Innovative Practices in Healthcare Payment Reform 
MBGH and HC21 are among the first four coalition projects to be awarded grants by the Purchaser Value Network to support our work across Tennessee to advance the adoption of new value-based payment models among both employers and providers. Key partners in our project include the State of Tennessee Health Care Innovation Initaitive, State of Tennessee Employee Benefit Administration, Cigna, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, self-insured employer members of MBGH and HC21, and other providers.
The Purchaser Value Network has awarded initial matching grants, up to $50,000 each, to non-profit regional business coalitions implementing innovative practices in value-based purchasing and healthcare payment reform.*
Health Care 21 Business Coalition and Memphis Business Group on Health were awarded $37,500 to explore models of payment reform with two employers to align with current state and national efforts in 2018.
Colorado Business Group on Health was awarded $50,000, to promote advanced primary care by integrating the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) incentives, a national advanced primary care medical home model to strengthen primary care through regionally-based multi-payer payment reform and care delivery transformation. Aligning the commercial and governmental purchasers in this market will help increase quality improvement, according to physician practices across the state.
Florida Health Care Coalition received $50,000, to finish developing and promoting a risk-stratified bundled payment for cardiac care, a project started under a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation grant. This initiative aligns commercial and governmental cardiac purchasing strategies across the Florida market.
Northeast Business Group on Health received $50,000 to convene employers, health plans and a hospital system to develop a multi-stakeholder pilot intervention to reduce C-sections in the state. Intervention methodologies will include a bundled payment for hospital-based maternity care or a blended case rate for vaginal and C-section deliveries.
Additional grants will be awarded throughout the year to further support initiatives in areas such as maternity care payment redesign, accountable care organizations, prescription drug value-based purchasing initiatives, and redesigning complex care management to reduce emergency department usage.
*Funding provided by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation
ABOUT THE PURCHASER VALUE NETWORK
The Purchaser Value Network, an initiative of the Pacific Business Group on Health, aims to accelerate the adoption of high value healthcare delivery and payment models through policy advocacy, education and purchaser engagement. The network seeks to inject purchaser perspectives and innovative best practices into federal and state policy decision making, educate employers about value-based purchasing and advocacy opportunities, and aligns three critical purchaser sectors—private employers, states, and the federal government—around evidence-based practices. For more information, visit www.pvnetwork.org.
Cristie Upshaw Travis, MBGH CEO, is a member of the Purchaser Value Network national Advisory Committee.