National Committee on Evidence-Based Benefit Design
The National Committee on Evidence-Based Benefit Design (NCEBBD) was established in September 2004 in response to alarming assessments of wasteful spending and poor outcomes due to overuse, under use and misuse of health care services. Patients receive care recommended by medical evidence only about half the time, according to a landmark RAND study published in 2003. Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine found 44 to 98 thousand people die each year in hospitals due to preventable mistakes.
Around the same time, employers noting few incentives for efficiency and medically appropriate utilization began to examine whether health benefit design could encourage greater adherence to evidence-based guidelines and improvements in quality, efficiency and safety.
Mission
To improve care quality and promote value by using benefit design to encourage and reward effective care and discourage ineffective care.
By linking benefit design to medical practices with demonstrated effectiveness, the NCEBBD seeks to enhance the health and quality of life of employees and their dependents and improve employers' return on benefits investment.
Objectives
- Create a forum for large employers and national experts to consider a new framework for health care benefits that supports evidence-based medicine.
- Translate effectiveness assessments into coverage and provider payment policies.
- Develop member communication tools related to evidence-based medicine.
- Identify areas for fast-track technology assessment.
- Promote an information technology infrastructure for health care.
- Give thoughtful guidance to the consumer-directed health care industry in order to enhance the value of plan offerings, fine tune insured services, and help consumers maximize their health care spending.
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