Initiatives

Need a proven solution for employee weight management that prevents/delays type 2 diabetes? Through employer peer roundtables, webinars, 1:1 assistance, and access to a no-cost pilot program, HCTN , collaborating with the Tennessee Department of Health, supports employers throughout the process of evaluating and implementing the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

Effective hypertension management saves lives, dollars and increases productivity by reducing strokes, coronary heart disease, heart failure, kidney disease, and vision loss. With our partners at the Tennessee Department of Health, we provide participating employers assistance in benefit design, medication management, vendor evaluation, and access to a no-cost hypertension management solution pilot.

The WHO estimates that 30-55% of health outcomes are driven by non-medical social determinants of health (SDoH). In addition, there is strong evidence showing the link between SDoH and the onset and progression of chronic conditions. HCTN is working with the Tennessee Department of Health and employers to understand the impact of SDoH on their workforce health and to integrate SDoH and claims to identify utilization patterns and remove barriers so that all employees fully experience their health benefits.

Tennessee sits in the middle of the diabetes and hypertension belts in the US - a threat to the health, productivity, and economic vitality of our region. If Tennessee employers want to remain competitive and achieve targeted business results, they must address the underlying drivers of poor health and high benefit costs – obesity and social determinants of health. HealthCareTN’s first statewide report lays out the health and economic burden; digs deeper into how obesity and social determinants of health impact chronic conditions; and recommends specific, practical steps employers should take to change the trajectory for their workforce and, collectively, for the state.

To get timely, effective behavioral health care for your employees requires improved network adequacy; integrated behavioral health and primary care; tele-behavioral health; and clinical metrics to track patient improvement. Only through the collective voice of employers, powered by HCTN, can these structural, market changes occur. Join our work with employers, providers and health plans as part of the national Path Forward for Mental Health and Substance Use initiative.

As the Tennessee Regional leader for The Leapfrog Group, HCTN and our members work across the state to collect, analyze, and publicly report performance of healthcare providers. Employers need this information to purchase high-value services for their benefit plans and employees need this information as they seek care. Since Leapfrog’s work started in 2001, there have been significant decreases in costly, and often deadly, adverse events and it is estimated that over 50,000 lives could be saved nationally if all hospitals earned an A on the Hospital Safety Grade. Check-out Tennessee results on the Hospital Safety Grade and Leapfrog Annual Surveys.

Pharmacy benefits have continued to operate in a convoluted market, rife with disincentives, little to no transparency, and are further complicated by consolidation. As specialty pharmacy continues to drive drug spend at both medical and pharmacy, employers are motivated to find alternatives to the status quo.  HCTN introduces innovative strategies, practices and players with a goal of strengthening our employer member’s understanding as they engage the market.

Advances in medical technology, including cell and gene therapies, along with ACA requirements that remove annual and lifetime maximums, have driven an increase in both the number of claimants exceeding traditional thresholds, and the amount spent for average high cost cases.  HCTN, our national association (the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions), and our leading employers are focused on developing a framework for understanding, preventing, and addressing, high cost claims.