Intel gives glimpse inside its Connected Care health plans that saved 17% per month

Intel’s Connected Care health plans are demonstrating the company’s “pay-for-performance” structure is delivering improved results in states where it has its largest employee bases: New Mexico, Oregon, Arizona and California. Intel, which employs about 50,000 people in the U.S., contracts directly with healthcare delivery systems. The Connected Care program requires the use of information technology, notably EHRs, to exchange health data across care teams, and works in partnership with delivery systems to improve quality of care. Clinicians in the program were given access to accurate and complete information about a patient’s medical history, and then held accountable for the quality of the care they delivered. The results, published in a white paper, indicate spending can be controlled through direct purchasing from healthcare delivery systems, rather than going through an intermediary. In Oregon, Intel garnered substantial savings on the healthcare costs of the Connected Care population, with an average of 17% less per member per month — translating to $1.8 million per month — compared to a risk-adjusted population of employees covered by the two traditional health plan offerings in the state.