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Data has always been the cornerstone of the insurance industry, critical to understanding the risks transferred between interested parties. For most of the history of this industry, ownership, and knowledge of the data were one-sided. Insurance companies accumulated vast amounts of data that allowed for deep insights into the types of risk and potential costs of those being insured.
Employers that chose to self-fund the medical coverage provided to their employees have long been able to obtain data on their enrollees. However, the depth and potential use of the data supplied to employers have been limited by the employer’s medical administrator’s view of the data as containing proprietary information that could impact competitive advantages. In addition, except for the largest companies, the volume of data was not credible, further limiting its usage. Recent rules, such as the Transparency in Coverage Final Rule issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, have sought to reduce the barriers to viewing data long seen as proprietary, for example, now giving insight into reimbursement arrangements with providers and facilities through publicly available Machine Readable Files (MRF). The curtains have lifted slightly, but there are still impediments to insight. Today, employers rely on third parties to process and aggregate this complex web of data provided by plan administrators, third-party solutions, and government-mandated data files such as the MRFs. Alliant Insurance Services focuses on helping our clients navigate through the tributaries of data now available. Alliant Interactive Analytics, our proprietary reporting platform, focuses on predicting outcomes via a big data analysis approach to data. With this platform, healthcare stakeholders can now more accurately measure population health risk, identify emerging trends, and proactively develop strategies to improve both the health of their employees and their bottom line. "The prospects for employers to access and leverage insurance data have never been brighter, perhaps even blinding, based on the volume of data available" Doug Levit, Director of Analytics, Employee Benefits Group at Alliant, has created extensive partnerships with the web of healthcare entities, such as insurance carriers, pharmacy benefits managers, and population health companies, to establish processes for finding and collecting the critical data elements and for delivering actionable analytics in a timely manner. Alliant is a leader in helping clients formulate strategies to improve health outcomes while retaining employees and controlling costs. Among the many areas to focus on, Value, Cost, and Quality are critical to any sound financial foundation. Value Bernard Khomenko, Director of Value-Based Healthcare Solutions at Alliant, understands that healthcare stakeholders are faced with misaligned incentives, like reducing costs, improving care outcomes, and maximizing financial performance. As a result, everyone is turning to value-based care models that base compensation and care on patient outcome, not patient volume. Understanding the problem, Alliant has invested in a new value-based healthcare solution that helps ease the transition to value-based care models. The approach and solutions offered by Alliant can minimize financial risk while providing the quality care your patients deserve. Value-based care isn’t just a trend but a critical shift that promotes proactive outreach, coordinated care, and data-based practices that put people at the center of the healthcare experience. Working with Alliant value-based healthcare specialists means sharing a common goal of providing better patient care. Cost The quality and value of care directly impact the cost of care. Recognizing this, proprietary tools such as Alliant Interactive Analytics enables employers to identify gaps in the quality of care being accessed and which providers will provide the opportunity to increase the value of care being utilized by its employees. The prospects for employers to access and leverage insurance data have never been brighter, perhaps even blinding, based on the volume of data available. Choosing the right partner to lead you into that light has never been more critical. Quality Improvements to care can’t be made without proper measurement of care delivered. Plenty of research focuses on the value of measuring the quality of care in the healthcare system. Still, less has been done to research the accuracy or validity of those same quality measures. Alliant researched this topic to identify limitations in quality metrics and find the best ways to use these metrics to fill some of the research gaps in this area. Alliant has partnered with leaders in the industry to augment our client’s data to objectively rank plan members and providers according to the quality of care provided and quantifiable cost savings goals. Areas of focused intervention are prioritized, and measurable success goals are set. This process is then seamlessly integrated with the rest of the health plan analytics and reporting processes.