The advantages of joining the Consortium fall into seven categories--Experience, Reputation, Facilitation, Impact, Education, Price, and Guarantee:

• Experience-We assist HMOs/PPOs (64), integrated delivery systems (2), states (4), gubernatorial campaigns in 2002 (2-both won), employers and TPAs (6), unions (1), and retirement funds (2) covering over 60,000,000 lives. We have written more RFIs and RFPs, procured more proposals, evaluated more vendors, and been involved in more negotiations than any other entity on earth by far;
• Reputation-We have been named the most influential organization in the industry by every published source which has named a "most influential organization" (click here)
• Facilitation-This experience levels means that we are prepared to support a payor in any and all aspects of disease management outsourcing, from disease selection to RFI/RFP writing to proposal/vendor evaluation to negotiating to contract-writing. Our support can be on-site, remote, or in writing;
• Impact-We guarantee that we receive the best available vendor deals, and make vendors guarantee to us because of our purchasing power, if you are a health plan you will receive a 5% better financial deal than any of your competitors of your size or smaller who are not also Consortium members.
• Education-We transfer knowledge to you over the course of your membership, and as you take on more of the contracting yourselves, the "deal fee" (if we broker) or retainer (if we consult) automatically halves for subsequent outsources
• Price-Your $2000-5000 lifetime membership fee includes everything but procurement and site visits. As for procurement: If we broker procurement, the vendor pays the deal fee after you authorize it, so Consortium members never see another invoice from us of any kind except for requested on-site seminars/consults and travel expenses.. Using us in a consulting capacity for procurement is also available.
• Guaranteed competitive advantage-Each contract we are involved in for you includes a "Most Favored Nations + 5%" clause, where your financial deal is guaranteed to be 5% better than any non-Consortium payor of similar or small size in your marketplace.
• Ultimate Guarantee-You must always think you are getting a large multiple of your membership fee from your Consortium, you may request that your fee be refunded... and still keep your membership.

As soon as you join, you may access all the materials (except three items clearly marked) in the Document Library at no charge and utilize all the telephonic consulting you need.

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Write to alewis@dismgmt.com for the membership materials now, or read on for more information.

The first and only consortium for health plans and other risk-bearers (ASO employers, indemnity plans, unions, public sector entities) interested in disease/population/hospitalist/utilization management outsourcing, DMPC offers a wide range of services...and there is no required professional or materials budget needed, ever, beyond the initial lifetime membership fee.

OUTSOURCE BUYING SERVICE

• Best Vendors--DMPC principals have more experience than anybody else in the industry in identifying and evaluating disease management outsource vendors. For instance, in eight major disease categories-as well as compliance management, utilization management, hospitalist services, and (for employers) population management--we have identified vendors which offer immediate guaranteed savings. Obviously, if you prefer a contractual configuration other than guaranteed savings, we can structure alternative arrangements to meet your needs.
• Guaranteed Best Prices--We guarantee that we can get you the best full-risk, risk-sharing or shared risk or fee-for-service price offered now or in the future by the vendor you select offered to any organization in your state of your size or smaller, and we also guarantee that your price will remain the best price for the term of your contract.
• Guaranteed quality and member satisfaction improvements. All our vendor contracts financially commit to improvements in all outcomes measures.

CONTRACTING SERVICE

Our soup-to-nuts services offers payors support in any or all of the following categories:

• Model RFPs-completely biostatistically sound following 7 years of refinements--customized to fit your specifications
• "Stealth references," being continually conducted…so that you can be assured of picking the vendors which are most likely to deliver on their promises
• Proposal and outcomes review and critique, with special emphasis on identification of fallacious clauses and illusory savings
• Unique and extensive database of previous price/guarantee offers made and accepted by vendors under your consideration for your own contract so you know you are getting the best prices
• Term Sheet/LOI/contract writing, and/or review and critique
• Participation on final negotiating team

BENCHMARKING DATABASE & DOCUMENT LIBRARY

For most major disease states, we have at least twelve independently developed payor datapoints on cost, incidence, prevalence, and likely savings...ensuring that you correctly identify your current population and calculate your "baseline" cost and outcomes, so you can measure the effectiveness of your DM/population management programs.

For every significant issue involved in DM strategy, our materials (except a few items, clearly marked) are available at no cost to members.

TELEPHONE ADVISORY SERVICES

At no additional charge, we are available--usually immediately and always within two business days--to answer all reasonable DM questions and assist in resolution of most DM issues.

Virtually any question you can think of, we have already been asked and have answered. In fact, we have fielded so many questions that we can answer most of them right over the telephone.

Q: None of these consulting-intensive services cost anything?

No-except for procurement, everything mentioned is included except out-of-pocket travel expenses. We can do this because we hear most questions repeatedly, you get a customized answer without paying for customized research. We don't do true "consulting", however--although we will support your consultants with our research and answers.

Q: Why should we use you to deal with vendors?

We get their best prices because:

• We know them--We know what prices and terms they've offered in similar circumstances;
• They know us--They know we're a continuing source of client referrals...if they treat our clients well;
• We know how to design proposals which meet vendors' legitimate needs in enough other areas to make them more flexible on price;
• We have 60-million lives in the Consortium

Q: What do you do about quality?

We make the vendors guarantee three kinds of quality: process quality, health status improvement, and member satisfaction. For instance, an ESRD DM vendor must guarantee certain lab values for albumin and URR ("process quality"), and also improvements in the population's SF-36 scores (health status improvement), as well as member satisfaction.

Q: What if our data's no good?

Neither is anyone else's. There are several workarounds to allow you to extract the best financial arrangement even in the absence of good data.

Q: What categories do you cover?

Our trademark is the procurement of outsourced services which guarantee immediate savings, with no up-front fees. Currently, such arrangements are available in asthma, CAD, cancer, CHF, COPD, diabetic neuropathy, ESRD, neonatology, diabetes, and rare diseases. Non-disease categories which offer guaranteed savings include: population management and predictive modeling.

Q: Our needs are different from those of HMOs-we are a {Medicaid program/ employer/TPA/PPO etc]. What do you do differently?

Everything. For instance, a Medicaid program is unlikely to get recommended the same vendor finalists as a health plan. Your demographics, needs, confidentiality concerns and geographic concentration are all different…and we act accordingly. In Medicaid, even your three major populations (TANF, disabled, dual-eligibles) will have vastly difference needs and solutions.

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Ready to join or you have more questions? Write to alewis@dismgmt.com with your request, or to have the membership materials emailed.