the association for corporate health risk...

ACHRM

THE ASSOCIATION FOR CORPORATE HEALTH RISK MANAGEMENT

http://www.achrm.org/

2 | Collaboration BOSS | 2015

ACHRM

ACHRM

The healthcare delivery

model is changing

rapidly and employers

are becoming the new

“payers” in the marketplace,

replacing traditional health

insurance carriers. However,

these organizations are

underprepared and are

struggling to contain their

healthcare costs. Continuously

rising costs, increasing

lifestyle-related diseases, and

the lack of a free market for

healthcare services creates

the perfect storm for U.S.-

based employers. These

issues, combined with our

country’s new health law

pushing employer healthcare

costs even higher, has laid

the foundation for the

Association for Corporate

Health Risk Management, more

commonly known as ACHRM.

ACHRM is a national

membership-based

organization composed of

forward-thinking employers

ranging in size from less

than 100 to just over 30,000

employees, who are seeking

innovative ways to contain

The Association for ACHRM Workshop hosted by Cancer Treatment Centers of America. Attendees included ACHRM members and workshop panelists.


their healthcare costs.

Founded in June 2012, ACHRM

has grown to over 500

employers and expects to

have ten chapters operating

by year-end 2015 including

Philadelphia, Baltimore,

Northern VA-Washington

D.C., Northern New Jersey,

Chicago, Dallas, Connecticut,

Wisconsin, and multiple

locations in Florida. Over the

next few years, ACHRM plans

to have a national presence

with chapters across the U.S.

“As a former CFO, I had found

healthcare costs one of our

company’s largest and most

difficult expense categories

to manage,” says Bill Lacy,

ACHRM’s CEO. “I’m not just

talking about the obvious

rising costs of health insurance,

but all areas of health risk,

including short- and long-

term disability, worker

compensation, pharmacy,

absenteeism, presenteeism,

and other challenging factors.”

While ACHRM’s mission—

assisting employers with

containing their healthcare

costs—does include the

financial components of

healthcare, it’s not only

about costs. ACHRM’s

solution development

efforts include expanding

employee healthcare, wellness,

preventative measures, and

expanded benefits packages.

ACHRM’s Secret Sauce “Employer ‘stories’ are

one of the unique benefits

of ACHRM,” said Pamela

Autrey, Director of Human

Resources, Dallas Museum

of Art. “Employers want to

learn from other employers.

It’s these stories that ACHRM

members will remember.

We like to collaborate,

exchange ideas and learn

from one another, but it’s the

stories, which we’ll recall.”

“Bringing progressive

employers and forward

thinking industry experts

together provides ACHRM

with the fuel to generate

solutions to containing

healthcare costs,” said Lacy.

We have found this

collaboration becomes

even more powerful when

executives from across

our multiple chapters are

connected. For example,

we connected a Pittsburgh

area consortium of school

districts with a similar

organization in Phoenix. Both

representatives admitted

they would have never met

if it weren’t for ACHRM,

UPCOMING ACHRM EVENTS

September 21st Effective Employer Employee Health Management Strategies Workshop @ The Atlantic Club (Manasquan, NJ)

September 15th Medical Travel 101 Webinar

September 29th ACHRM’s Orlando, FL Formation meeting

October 8th CFO Roundtable Series, Philadelphia PA

October 30th Transitioning from Fully Insured to Self Funded Workshop @ FirstMCO (Parsippany, NJ)

November 6th Not-for-Profit / Foundation Workshop @ Winning Strategies Washington (Washington DC)

November 18th Speaker @ League of Municipalities, Atlantic City, NJ

November 20th Speaker @ Medical Fitness Association annual conference (New Orleans)


Corporate Health Risk Management

and have already realized

benefits sharing strategies.

Four Factors Separating

ACHRM from Others

in the Industry

First, ACHRM only allows one

vendor per industry vertical,

which controls the number

of vendors at meetings. “We

interview many vendors, but

we are seeking those that

bring disruptive solutions

to employers. We turn away

many vendors,” says Lacy. “We

actively engage our Sponsor

Partners,” continues Lacy,

reflecting the vendor’s active

involvement. According to

Mary Seery, National Director,

Business Markets, national

Sponsor Cancer Treatment

Centers of America (CTCA),

“our relationship is unlike that

with any other association,

which are more focused

on the money vendor’s

contribute and less on the

total value we bring.”

Second, ACHRM events are

held at employer worksites

giving employers a sense of

comfort (i.e., no sales pitches);

lower cost than traditional

venues, such as country clubs,

hotels, and conference centers;

and the host an opportunity

to promote its business.

Third, ACHRM offers Strategic

Initiatives, which include

new methods or strategies,

which are being incubated.

ACHRM’s current ten Strategic

Initiatives range from Direct

Contracting between

Employers and Healthcare

Providers to educating and

engaging CFOs / Private

Equity professionals. Our

Strategic Initiatives are further

captured in ACHRM’s Glossary,

which includes terminology,

definitions, employer

applications, and case studies.

Fourth, we promote

employer stories, case

studies, and collaboration

locally and nationally.

Why ACHRM? ACHRM identifies employer

challenges, and then finds

employers across the U.S. that

have implemented solutions to

address these challenges. Our

case study formula includes

defining the employer’s

problem, the solution that

was implemented, and the

results generated. Employers

learn from the stories: both

the mistakes and successes.

For example, a case study

between Cancer Treatment

Centers of America and the

Teamsters Health & Welfare

Fund has provided a template

for employers considering

domestic medical travel.

Our objective is to have every

employer takeaway at least

one new strategy. However,

we recognize that employer

issues cannot be solved in a

four-hour session and health

ACHRM’s Five Pillars

■ Introducing price transparency and quality metrics for healthcare services

■ Optimizing your organization’s self-funded strategy

■ Developing and sustaining your organization’s employee health management strategy

■ Educating and engaging your CFO and the financial community

■ Offering professional certificates for employees managing health risks

ACHRM



solutions, education,

Workshops, webinars,

Strategic Initiatives, white

papers, and case studies. “It’s

about bringing disruptive

solutions to employers. Even

after our short three-year

history and assembling over

500 employers and eight

chapters, ACHRM has just

begun to scratch the surface,”

Bill Lacy reports. Powerful

validations of the progress of

ACHRM have been realized by

invitations for us to present

as “content expert” to third-

party conferences across the

US, strategic partnerships

with other membership-based

organizations, and the growing

demand to launch new U.S.

and international chapters.

Five Key Healthcare Cost Containment Strategies for the CFO

■ Understanding healthcare costs

■ Unravelling the pharmacy/PBM mystery

■ Direct contracting between an employer and healthcare providers, including local providers, domestic, and international medical travel

■ Boosting employee health management

■ Partnering with HR/engaging and educating employees

risk management issues are

dynamic. Another benefit of

the Workshops is to identify

next steps for working

towards solving issues.

Because ACHRM is growing

rapidly and employers are

increasingly demanding

new strategies, ACHRM

has begun to enhance

its Workshop model with

Webinar technology. The

first session of this type was

offered during a May 2015

program with positive results.

In closing, ACHRM offers

employers solutions and

strategies through stories

and collaboration, along with

innovative methodologies,

disruptive technologies,


June 2015 Workshop hosted by Center of Advanced Medical Learning (University of South Florida) in conjunction with Promed’s Medical Travel and Global Healthcare Business Summit

ACHRM

230 Kings Highway East, Suite 340Haddonfield, NJ 08033

Ph: 858.979.2067Email: [email protected]

www.achrm.org

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