150 GPBCH Coalition members, supporters and friends joined us for our 10th Anniversary Celebration on November 10th. Our special guests included Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions CEO Mike Thompson, Leapfrog Group Director Jill Berger, and Dr. David Nash, author of "How COVID Crashed the System: A Guide to Fixing American Health Care". With a silent auction to raise funds, we also launched our new GPBCH Summer Internship Program for minority college students. We thank our generous sponsors and supporters, and Aramark for hosting the event at their beautiful Philadelphia headquarters. Neil Goldfarb, President & CEO of GPBCH) was surprised and touched by speeches from GPBCH Board President Marsha Greene-Jones (City of Philadelphia), Jim Rhodes (Camden County), and Aaron Schrader (Delaware Statewide Benefits), and receiving the “GPBCH Founder’s Award” and the County of Camden Community Citizen Service Award. We hope that all of our members see value in their continued GPBCH membership, and know that GPBCH will continue doing our best to advance our mission!

See links below for GPBCH Anniversary photos and videos:

• GPBCH Anniversary Booklet
• Photos from Anniversary Event
• GPBCH “Through the Years” photos
• 10th Anniversary PPT presentation

We had a GREAT turnout to the Coalition’s 2022 Wellness Summit with nearly 150 in-person attendees! We appreciate our conference speakers, sponsors, and attendees for committing time and support for making this program possible. PDF Presentations are available and can be accessed below:

• 8:45 – 9:45 Obesity is Job 1: Implementing a Comprehensive Approach: Neil Goldfarb, President and CEO, Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (), Niki Patel, Medical Account Associate Director, Novo Nordisk, Sharon Castillo, Director, Plan Administration, Interpretation and Regulatory Affairs, Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church, and Jim Rhodes, Deputy County Administrator, Camden County NJ
  
  
• 9:45 – 10:30 Addressing Equity is Addressing Well-being: Moderator: Marsha Greene-Jones, Deputy HR Director, City of Philadelphia, Sandra E. Brooks, MD, MBA, Chief Medical Officer, Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Inc., Executive Vice President, Chief Community Health Equity Officer, Thomas Jefferson University (), Roosevelt Allen, DDS, MAGD, ABGD, Chief Dental Officer, United Concordia Dental (), and Jim Dever, President, Bank of America Greater Philadelphia ()
  
  
• 11:00 – 11:45 Vaccines: What we Learned from COVID, and What’s Next?: Robert Popovian, Founder, Conquest Advisors, and Chief Science Policy Officer, Global Healthy Living Foundation ()
  
  
• 11:45 – 12:15 Best Practices for Addressing Cultural Influence on Employee Wellbeing Strategies: Andi Campbell, Chief Growth Officer, WellSpark Health ()
  
  
• 12:45 – 1:30 After-Lunch Challenge: How Much Do You Really Know about Well-being?: Al Lewis, CEO, Quizzify ()
  
  
• 1:30 – 2:15 A Conversation on Building Cultures of Health and Equity: Ray Fabius, Co-Founder and President, HealthNEXT; Consulting Medical Director, GPBCH, and Michele Bildner, Project Manager, CDC Foundation
  
  
• 2:15 – 2:45 Citizens: Connecting Wellness and Social Impact for Better Outcomes: Kristin Chenevert, Health & Wellness Manager, Citizens Bank and Mike Cook, Senior Regional Director, Castlight Health ()
  
  
• 3:00 – 4:00 Supporting Employers in Managing Mental Health: Meredith Masin Blount, Executive Director, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) New Jersey, Erin Booker, LPC, Vice President, Behavioral Health and Social Care Integration, ChristianaCare, and Adriana Torres-O’Connor, PsyD, MBA, MSW, President & CEO, Mental Health Partnerships ()

We hope all employers can join us for our next quarterly GPBCH Employer Forum, YOUR opportunity to share your activities and questions with other GPBCH employer members. There is no agenda; attendees will have the opportunity to discuss any topics of interest. We already have had a few requests from employers who want to learn more about how other organizations are addressing the recent Supreme Court decision on Roe v Wade, so it's sure to be an interesting and productive conversation. We will not be recording the session, so that members feel they can speak freely. We therefore encourage you to try to attend. Outlook invitations have already been distributed to employer members.

At this program, Neil Goldfarb, President & CEO of GPBCH, and Brian Leeds, Student at Jefferson College of Pharmacy, discussed how employers, consultants, consumers, and other system stakeholders can promote use of various transparency tools in order to drive value. In addition, they provided an overview of the tools and presented a summary of findings for our region’s hospitals using these tools.

The session was recorded and can be . To access the slide deck, .

At our 2022 Annual Member Meeting, GPBCH staff presented an overview of coalition accomplishments, plans for the coming year, asked for member input, and also announced the new slate for the Board of Directors. The session was recorded and can be . To access the slide deck, .

We had a GREAT turnout to the Coalition’s first in-person event since the onset of the pandemic with over 260 registrants! Thank you to all of the conference speakers, sponsors, and attendees for making this program possible. The meeting was recorded and the recording will be distributed shortly. For now, please feel free to access the PDF presentations below:

• 8:30 - 8:45 Welcome & Opening Remarks -
  
  
• 8:45 – 9:30 The Call of Now: Health Equity is an Action: Jessica Brooks, MPM, President & CEO, Pittsburgh Business Group on Health - and
  
  
• 9:30 – 10:00 AmerisourceBergen’s Journey to Close Health Equity Gaps in Healthcare & MSK Benefits: Kimberly Kirkpatrick, Manager of Benefits & Wellbeing, AmerisourceBergen, and Raymond Hwang, MD, Medical Director, Hinge Health - and
  
  
• 10:20 – 11:20 Driving Value through Health Plan Innovation: Julia Hutchins, Founding CEO, EmsanaCare (), Ashok Subramanian, Founder and CEO, Centivo (), and John Powers, President, Homestead Smart Health Plans () and
  
  
• 11:20 – 12:00 Promoting Hospital Transparency: Celebrating Success: Jill Hutt, Vice President for Member Services, GPBCH, Mark Meyers, DNP, MBA, RN, Associate Vice President of Performance Excellence, Temple University Health System, Michelle Merchant, Hospital Account Manager, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, and Aaron Schrader, State Human Resource Administrator, MS, Delaware Statewide Benefits - and
  
  
• 1:00 – 2:00 Identifying & Managing High Cost Claimants: Chris Syverson, President, Nevada Business Group on Health (), Christine Hale, MD, Vice President, Lockton (), Mark Angelo, MD, MHA, Chief Executive Officer, Delaware Valley ACO, and Sharon Castillo, Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church () and
  
  
• 2:00 – 2:30 The Business Value of Health on Productivity – What We Learned from the COVID-19 Pandemic: Phil Lacy, Health & Productivity Practice Leader, Marsh McLennan Agency, Absence Disability & Life, and Bob Restivo, Director of Benefits Strategy (Retired), General Dynamics - and
  
  
• 2:45 – 3:30 Consolidated Appropriations Act: What Employers Need to Know & Do: Edward I Leeds, JD, Counsel, Ballard Spahr - and
  
  
• 3:30 – 4:20 Health Benefit Innovation Awards Presentations: Dany Bourjolly Smith, Employee Benefits Manager with the City of Wilmington (), Aileen Espiritu, Benefits Manager with Essity North America Inc. (), Aaron B. Schrader, State Human Resource Administrator with the State of Delaware Statewide Benefits Office(), and Maria Scheeler, Fund Administrator with the Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund of Philadelphia and Vicinity () and
  
  

Join us on May 10th for a free webinar and Q&A session about the Leapfrog 2022 Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey.

About this event

Leapfrog Group Regional Leaders - Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health, Lehigh Valley Business Coalition on Healthcare and Pittsburgh Business Group on Health - are hosting this special webinar on May 10th, 12pm - 1pm EDT, about the 2022 Leapfrog Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Survey. Led by Missy Danforth, Vice President of Healthcare Ratings at the Leapfrog Group, this session will include: how to request a security code, how to navigate the Online ASC Survey Tool, important deadlines, an overview of the Survey content, and information on how results will be scored and publicly reported.

Attendees will also hear from employers about their increased focus on measuring and improving quality and safety for care delivered in ASCs, and why Survey participation is vital to purchasers and the community in achieving real progress towards a safer, higher-quality, more transparent health care system for all. Participants will be able to ask questions throughout the presentation.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER and receive the Zoom link to the webinar. We hope you can join us for this webinar! Please direct questions to Eric Croft at ecroft@gpbch.org or 215-800-1064.

Opioid addiction is an ongoing concern for employers, and emerging evidence demonstrates that substance use and overdoses increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this session, Dr. Audrey Kern discussed the epidemiology of opioid use disorder including inequities in access to care, impact of addiction on health and cost outcomes, and recent advances in treatment, including the use of Prescription Digital Therapeutics, FDA-authorized digital health solutions. Dr. Kern also offered her advice to employers for managing this ongoing source of morbidity, mortality, and service utilization. We also heard from Maria Scheeler, Fund Administrator at the Teamsters Health & Welfare Fund of Philadelphia & Vicinity, for an employer's perspective.

The program was recorded and can be viewed by clicking here.

During this webinar, our focus was on how employers can advance a tobacco-free culture of health for their workforce. We discussed key steps and strategies for the development, implementation and sustainability phases of this vital culture change. Participants learned of best practices to increase the awareness and utilization of evidence-based tobacco use disorder treatment, or tobacco cessation, resources. Content expertise and technical assistance available to large employers to support their journey towards a tobacco-free culture of health was also discussed. Ryan Coffman, MPH, CHES, CTTS-M, Philadelphia Department of Public Health, Tobacco Policy and Control Program Manager, was our presenter.

To access the PDF presentation . The program was recorded and can be viewed by .

Hosted by Delaware SHRM State Council and Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health, this program taught attendees about a proven solution - the National Diabetes Prevention & Lifestyle Change Program - for employers to prevent or delay diabetes in the workforce to improve health and reduce costs. We heard from experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors, and the Delaware Division of Public Health. During this program we also gained valuable insight from an employer case study on positive workforce outcomes in offering the National DPP.

To access the PDF presentation . The program was recorded and can be viewed by .

GPBCH welcomed back Employers Health to provide an update on key trends shaping the pharmaceutical and PBM market, and implications for employer strategy and cost management. Topics included supply chain dynamics, clinical management, rebates and specialty drugs. The webinar also featured a discussion on specialty pharmacy risk management with US-Rx Care, a solutions provider of Employers Health.

Speakers Include:

• Mike Stull, Chief Strategy Officer, Employers Health
• Renzo Luzzatti, President, US-Rx Care

To access the PDF presentation . The program was recorded and can be viewed by .

Hosted by the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH) and the Health Care Improvement Foundation, this program brought together healthcare leaders and employers to discuss the value of the Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Safety Grade in driving patient safety and to recognize top performing hospitals in our region. GPBCH was excited to launch this inaugural Hospital Quality & Safety Awards Program and announced this year’s winners based on their most recent Leapfrog Hospital Survey and Safety Grade results. As Regional Leader for the Leapfrog Group, GPBCH represents the interests of employer and consumer purchasers to drive improvement in healthcare transparency. We thank hospitals in our region for their ongoing commitment to achieve a safer, higher-quality and more transparent healthcare system for all.

To access the PDF presentation . The program was recorded and can be viewed by .

53 million adults in the United States identify as “caregivers” or “care partners” for a family member living with a chronic disease. The mental, physical, and financial challenges of caregiving often carry over to the workplace, yet caregivers rarely disclose these private stressors to coworkers or supervisors for fear of stigma or retribution. As a result, employers should consider ways to proactively support these individuals in their workforces who may be suffering in silence.

In this session, we reviewed the latest statistics on caregivers, learned about common stressors experienced by caregivers, the impact the COVID pandemic has had on caregivers, and reviewed ways to address the needs of employee caregivers and the impact they’re having on organizations. Speakers included John Schall, Chief Executive Officer, Caregiver Action Network (CAN), and Gina Ross Murdoch, President & CEO, Multiple Sclerosis Association of America.

To access the PDF presentation . The program was recorded and can be viewed by .

Mark your calendars for our next GPBCH Employer Member Forum: YOUR opportunity to ask questions of other employers and share your experiences. We have no set agenda for the meeting, so bring any items you would like to share or ask about. Outlook invitations have been distributed to GPBCH employer members.

With obesity affecting over 40% of the workforce, employers need to implement a systematic approach to benefit design to help promote weight loss, and lower utilization and costs. In this session, attendees saw the latest data on obesity epidemiology and economics, learned about new lifestyle, pharmacologic, and surgical treatment options, reviewed a set of recommended best practices for benefit design that have emerged from the Coalition's Employer Action Collaborative on Obesity and Diabetes, and heard a weight management physician's perspective on how benefit design can help providers manage obesity as a chronic disease.

Speakers included:

• Niki Patel, PharmD, MBA, Medical Accounts Associate Director, Novo Nordisk
• Neil Goldfarb, President and CEO, GPBCH - to access the PDF presentation
• Anastassia Amaro, MD, Medical Director, Penn Metabolic Medicine and Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania - to access the PDF presentation

The program has been supported by a sponsorship from Novo Nordisk. to access the program recording.

GPBCH is partnering with CDC Foundation and HealthNEXT on a project seeking to help members improve their culture of health in order to improve health and productivity, workforce engagement and retention, and cost management. In this session, Dr. Ray Fabius, GPBCH Consulting Medical Director, discussed the role of organizational culture in advancing these metrics, and also provided an update on best practices for employers in managing the ongoing pandemic.

To access Dr. Fabius' presentation, and to access the program recording.