Session (CTI)

PURPOSE: Employers are a primary purchaser of healthcare in the US, responsible for making complex, value-laden coverage decisions that shape healthcare access, costs, and coverage options for millions of employees. These decisions require tradeoffs and may not reflect the diverse needs and preferences of the workforce. This workshop will explore methods to meaningfully engage employees directly in the decision-making process, promoting shared responsibility. Participants will learn how an employer successfully used a participatory decision-making process to co-create a benefit reflecting collective needs and employee preferences. DESCRIPTION: Workshop attendees will obtain knowledge of a) the role of employers as healthcare stakeholders, b) tradeoffs involved in healthcare benefit design, and c) opportunities for employers to engage employees in benefit development to improve trust, transparency, and acceptance. Ms. Westrich will introduce the role of employers in healthcare decision-making and the tradeoffs they consider when making healthcare coverage decisions. Ms. McNichol will describe how her organization developed and utilized a participatory decision-making framework to engage employees in deliberative workshops to develop a health plan. She will identify the data sources and practices that informed the development of the framework, and share key results and lessons learned from this initiative. Dr. Vandigo will link the framework with patient-centered research and patient experience data, how we define and assess value in public policy, and highlight the relevance of the framework for patient organizations, manufacturers, and investors. Audience participation will include brainstorming examples of value-laden healthcare decisions, exploring tradeoffs, reflecting on the challenges of balancing individual and collective needs, and examining how structured dialogue can improve benefit design. This workshop will be valuable to those interested in advancing more consumer/patient-focused benefit designs.