The Employer Health Alliance (EHA) is a network of physicians in Mesa County, Colorado. Grand Junction is the County seat with a population of approximately 71,000 residents. There are 3 hospitals in Mesa County, one of which is a Tertiary Care Facility.
EHA was formed by interested employers seeking direct contracts from providers who were interested in dealing directly with those employers and eliminating the burden of BUCA.
In 2014 the first employer in Mesa County implemented Reference Based Pricing (RBP) for their plan. A physician only network was also implemented only to find that there weren’t many M.D.’s in the network. It was mainly a physician network comprised of chiropractors, social workers, and mental health professionals. Subsequently, all providers were paid based upon RBP.
At the same time, a collective effort involving numerous employers interested in RBP was taking place, and the discussion of direct contracts started. At one meeting, a former HR Executive offered to assist and approach providers with direct contracts. She was hired as the executive director of EHA and has subsequently contracted with all the important physicians in the County.
EHS now serves as the physician network for the Western Slope Health Plan (WSHP). As you can see from the chart below, the equivalent discounts with the hospitals and RBP. is very, very strong, and the direct contacts with a few physician groups for example, is very competitive as well.
Currently, there are 9 privately held employers participating in WSHP/EHA and growing.
