Large Employers' New Strategies in Health Care

Large employers are major purchasers of health insurance and have a strong interest in maintaining the health of their employees and containing the costs of care. These efforts focus on giving employees financial incentives and data about quality to encourage them to choose lower-cost and higher-quality care. Several large employers formed a group that compiles and disseminates information about the quality of hospitals, with the goal of steering employees toward higher-quality care.