Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/778134
MEDICAL COSTS, THE DECLINE OF EMPLOYEE HE ALTHCARE COST¤SHARING IN FAVOR OF PERFORMANCE¤BA SED NE T WORKS, AND CHANGES IN PHARMACEUTICAL BENEFITS ARE AMONG THE KE Y HE ALTHCARE TRENDS ANALYSTS ARE WATCHING IN 2017. THE INDUS TRY C ONSENSUS is t hat g row t h i n med ica l c os t s w i l l b e c on si s t ent w it h 2 016 — a b out 6 p erc ent , a ccord i n g to resea rch f rom bot h t he Nat iona l Busi ness Group on Hea lth (NBGH) a nd professiona l ser vices network PricewaterhouseCoopers (P wC). That may be deceptively comfor ting, however. "A grow th rate of 6.5 percent is more tha n twice the rate of economic inf lation," says Benja min Isg ur, Leader of the PwC Hea lth Resea rch Institute. " Medica l cost trend is slowing signif ica ntly compa red to 10 yea rs ago, but employers paying these bills a re still looking for more savings a nd eff iciency." THE COST OF CONVENIENCE For patients looking for fa st, lower-cost access to medica l treatment, convenient ca re offers options — but increa sed availability and use of these ser vices are affecting the overa ll cost of ca re. New resea rch from Accenture estimates that funding for on-dema nd hea lthca re compa nies will increase to $1 billion by the end of 2017. PwC predicts there will be more than 3,000 retail hea lth clinics in the United States by 2017. That grow th ref lects consumer dema nd for such ser vices. Two out of f ive consumers sought ca re at a reta il clinic in 2016, a nd a lmost Medical Cost Containment, nine out of 10 sa id they wou ld likely use those ser v ices in the future. W hile prices at reta il clinics ca n be lower tha n at other points of ca re, a na lysts say the increase in utilization is bending medica l cost trends upwa rd. The ava i labi lit y a nd use of telehea lt h ser v ices is a lso ex pected to i ncrea se. N BGH predicts t hat 90 percent of employers will ma ke telehea lth ser vices available to employ- ees where per m it t ed , a nd t hat by 2020, nea rly a l l la rge employers will offer telemedicine coverage. BALANCING COST WITH PERFORMANCE Employee cost-sharing has often been a primary method used by employers to reduce the costs of hea lth ca re. However, cost-sha ring options such as high-deductible hea lth pla ns with a hea lth savings account — of fered by 63 percent of employers — have reached an end point for controlling costs for employers. High-per forma nce net works with limited provider choices and outcome-based payments are gaining more attention from employers. Research from PwC found that a high-per forma nce net work ca n reduce costs up to 35 percent, compared with a broad provider network. " Employers a re t r y i n g t o i ncrea se t he at t ra c t iveness of h i g her-per for m i n g prov iders a nd h i g h-per for m a nce BY MELISSA MOORE PHARMACEUTICAL INNOVATION TAKE CENTER STAGE 1 0