How to make direct contracting finances work
As direct contracting arrangements grow — including one state requiring health systems to offer them — a leading provider identified keys to boosting their finances. Nick Stefanizzi, CEO of Northwell Direct, leads Northwell Health’s for-profit direct contracting subsidiary. Since adding its first customer in 2022, it has grown to serve more than 300,000 employee members…
How Congress sees direct contracting impacting hospitals
Members of Congress said they expect hospitals and health systems to see both financial benefits and losses under a broader rollout of direct contracting. An expansion of direct contracting and direct primary care (DPC) between employers and providers drew bipartisan support at a July 1 congressional hearing that highlighted legislation to boost such arrangements. These…
Not dead: Provider-sponsored plans reassessing
Provider-sponsored health plans (PSHPs) proliferated in recent years and now face a historically challenging market. Some are reassessing, while others are in wait-and-see mode, says an adviser. From 2018 through 2023 the number of hospitals owning PSHPs increased from 692 (18.3% of hospitals) to 834 (27.2%), according to a new study published in JAMA by…
Employers seek strategies to control surging hospital costs
Employers are increasingly looking for ways to control hospital costs, such as using centers of excellence, site of care redirection, and direct contracting, as well as pushing for federal policy changes, in response to projected 2026 cost increases of nearly 10%.