High-Intensity Primary Care Payment: Good Return on Investment for Employers

As the largest purchaser of health care in America, employers are paying a high price for care of variable quality. To check soaring costs, some employers are switching from the inefficient fee-for-service model of paying for care, which encourages high volume and low quality, to payment models that reward high value.

For example, there is emerging evidence that high-intensity primary care payment programs are yielding a good return on investment for employers. In this brief, we highlight the early successes of three organizations —the Boeing Company, a union in Atlantic City, and the California Public Employees’ Retirement System —with implementing high-intensity primary care payment programs. In addition, many other organizations have been impressed with the promise of high-intensity primary care programs and have begun to support the model, including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services