May 30, 2025

Overview

In response to rising health care costs, declining population health and poor employee experience, employers are reenvisioning their vendor partnerships, evaluation models and contracting approaches to improve outcomes and drive long-term value on their investments in employee health. With rising complexity across hundreds of vendor options and continued challenges with a lack of transparency and data connectivity, employers at the conference spoke about the need for greater multi-partner integration of data and benefits offerings. This topic was a central focus throughout this year’s conference, where employers and their partners showcased effective strategies to implement innovative programs and maximize the value of incumbent partners and the evolving ecosystem.

How Employers Are Reimagining Vendor Relationships

• Deploying value-based health plan and benefit design alternatives: Employers are implementing nontraditional health plan programs that deploy alternative plan designs (e.g., quality-based coverage tiers, referenced-based pricing plans, high value primary care centered networks), which can reduce out-of-pocket costs for employees seeking quality care and drive overall savings. Several employer speakers spoke about their success with these models, encouraging their peers to be bold in testing and expanding nontraditional partnerships. With new approaches to network and benefit design, these alternatives require significant employer and partner communications to create superior experience and maximize benefits.
• Shifting the status quo: As rising costs remain a significant challenge and outcomes aren’t improving, employers are increasing vendor accountability. Employers are focused on improving return on investment (ROI) methodologies, strategically auditing vendor data and using technology that allows for real-time monitoring and thoughtfully defining key success metrics to achieve this priority. For example, one employer explained how it is continually keeping a close eye on changes in the vendor marketplace (e.g., vendors changing their business model or ownership) as the company evaluates potential future partners and incumbent vendors through RFPs. Another employer explained that it holds vendors accountable for satisfaction metrics for account management; if administration is too complex or frustrating for HR leaders, it’s probably too complex for employees, too.
• Empowering vendors to elevate benefits “lost in network:” In the multi-stakeholder panel on this topic, conference speakers explored modifying their existing offerings to adapt to a new trend of virtual clinical providers offering their services within the health plan’s network. Traditionally, these “point solutions” would have been sold directly to employers – and often still are – but many have reduced the contracting burden on employers by going in-network with health plan partners. Speakers explored how such programs can be differentiated and showcased in navigation and provider search tools, improving the likelihood that participants “find” these innovative solutions. Further, speakers discussed how the issue isn’t just that providers and their organizations can get “lost in network,” but also that employer communications about their availability, partnerships focused on patient experience and accountability that comes with contracting directly get lost. There is no perfect answer regarding vendor contracting strategies, but certainly employers and their plan members should know about existing network providers providing high-quality, specialized care. Health plan and navigator speakers urged their employer clients to push them to partner on solving for this emerging issue.

Relevant Resources

• 1 | Taking Action on Transparency: A Business Group on Health Viewpoint
• 2 | Holding Vendors Accountable for Results and Assessing the Impact of Program Interventions
• 3 | Thought Leadership Series: Vendor Accountability
• 4 | Taking Action on Health Care Costs: A Business Group on Health Viewpoint
• 5 | Trends to Watch in 2025

2025 Annual Conference Insights: Reimagining Vendor Relationships: New Approaches and Strategies

More Topics

Resource Vendor Management & Accountability Value-based Care Data & Measurement