Lynn Shapiro Snyder, a Senior Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences and Litigation practices, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, and Anjana D. Patel, Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences and Litigation practices, in firm’s the Newark and New York offices, were featured in the U.S. Domestic Medical Travel bulletin “This Week in U.S. Domestic Medical Travel,” in a Q& A article titled “INTERVIEW: Epstein Becker Green: Leading the Discussion on Direct-to-Employer Contracting.”
Following is an excerpt:
USDMT: When individuals think about providers, they immediately think hospitals - but we are not referring to only hospitals in this case. Can you please expand?
AP: Direct contracting is extending across the entire provider spectrum. While hospitals, especially, large health systems, may have originally been the pioneers in this area, we are seeing it extended to other types of providers, including large physician practices and urgent care centers.
LS: Exactly. There are many benefits that may not be as prominent in the group health plan and part of the reason some providers choose big ticket items is to lower the group health plan premium.
Direct contracts need to be customized to an employer. For example: Where is the employer located? How far is the employer from a Center of Excellence?