The dynamics of your health care market matter

Health care markets have an incredibly important role in shaping how much we pay for health care and how well your population fares. You’re in luck! Catalyst for Payment can conduct a Market Assessment in your region to help you understand the features of your local market, determine the dynamics of key stakeholders, and assess how these characteristics may impact your health care strategy, including payment and delivery reforms and related benefit and provider network designs.

Why is it so important to understand your local market?

Health care markets across the country vary greatly in the number of provider and health plan options and the influence these players have on the cost and quality of health care.  So, if no market is the same, there is no one size-fits-all solution to our health care problem. A payment reform strategy that is logical in one health care market may take another market further from its goals. Therefore, for those in a position to push for and implement health care reforms, it is critical to understand the dynamics of one’s local market!

What is a CPR Market Assessment?

The Market Assessment consists of 4 steps:

1. Market-specific statistical data. CPR examines online and purchasable resources to gather data about the market’s population size, the breakdown in sources of insurance coverage and percent uninsured, the largest representatives of each of the major stakeholder groups and their percentage of market share, and measures of market concentration among health plans and hospitals.
2. Multi-stakeholder survey. CPR fields a survey of the major stakeholders in the market with targeted questions to further understand the dynamics among the key stakeholders. The survey helps us gather information on which stakeholder is the most “market-shaping” (health plans, providers, purchasers) and the experience of the market with health care reforms.
3. Requests for information. CPR conducts detailed requests for information from the major health plans and providers in the market to further understand each stakeholders’ experience with and willingness to implement reforms,
4. Report. CPR compiles the findings from the statistical data, survey and requests for information to characterize the market type (via CPR’s market typology). We then translate the information into detailed recommendations for the specific market, taking into consideration the local nuances and particular stakeholders.

Where has CPR conducted Market Assessments already?

We’ve conducted Market Assessments in seven regions across the U.S.:

• Columbus, Ohio
• Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Long Beach, California
• Memphis, Tennessee
• Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
• San Diego, California
• Denver, Colorado

If you are interested in accessing any of the assessments CPR conducted in these markets, please contact connect@catalyze.org.