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Companies and health care providers want and need to understand each other's situations better if they want to get an effective handle on health care costs.
That was one of the biggest points to emerge during a discussion between representatives of three area employers and three health care providers during the Sedgwick County Health Care Roundtable, held Wednesday at the Wichita Marriott.
Ron Whiting, executive director of the Wichita Business Coalition on Health Care, led the more than two-hour discussion, which was part of an all-day series of sessions focused on health insurance and employee wellness.
Whiting opened the discussion by asking the panel to discuss what providers and employers alike wish the other understood about their business.
Joe Davison, a family practice doctor, said that although employers and providers have different challenges, when it comes to finding ways to provide health care in an affordable but quality way, both parties need to stay focused on that "one commonality we have together."
Byron Stout of Meritrust Credit Union said he would like to see a better understanding among providers of employers' wellness programs and "helping our employees to do their part" in reaching and maintaining a level of health that keeps health care costs low.
Matt Leary, chief financial officer of Wesley Medical Center, said his hospital tries to meet patient expectations every time.
"Every single employee is different," Leary said. "They come with their unique issues and needs."
And to be able to treat a variety of health conditions every day of the year means Wesley has to have the resources in place.
"That's expensive, it really is, to be on the ready," he said.
Mat Mount, controller at Wescon Products, said that when it comes to negotiating health care coverage, he wants to know why his company has to adjust to cost pressures from its customers, but health care providers don't.
"In our world we're expected to become more efficient ... and reduce price," Mount said.
He wants to know why if his company has to reduce its prices on a product for a customer, why can't health care providers do the same for employers.
"As a financial guy for a manufacturer, we have a hard time understanding" that, he said.
Whiting also asked the panel how it is rewarded for high performance.
Nickaila Sandate of Youthville said high performance is an expectation for her organization because of the services it provides to the state of Kansas under contracts.
"We're asked routinely to provide outcomes and performance standards," she said.
But, she said her organization doesn't always get information on the quality of service its health care providers give to its employees.
"That's the No. 1 reason it led us to go self-insured," said Meritrust's Stout.
He said that until his company did that, it had a hard time getting data on the quality of health care its employees were receiving as well as utilization.
Davison, the doctor, said that generally each physician practice and each hospital is a "silo" when it comes to quality and performance data.
He said recent efforts such as the formation of the Wichita Health Information Exchange, led by the Medical Society of Sedgwick County, could help employers get the data they need to better evaluate their health plan usage and quality of care.
The panels also was asked about the impact of consolidation among health care providers, such as Via Christi Health's acquisition of Wichita Clinic and Wesley's pending acquisition of Galichia Heart Hospital.
Employers are concerned that such moves could drive their health care costs higher because of less competition.
But Dave Gambino of Via Christi Health expects just the opposite in his organization's case.
"We can take waste out of the system," Gambino said. "We can take redundancies out of the system."
