Centers of excellence are becoming the next big thing in health care coverage, as employers seek to control costs while improving employee health outcomes.

Modern Healthcare reported on the findings of a survey from Willis Towers Watson, which showed an increase in the number of employers giving employees access to COEs — organizations that have high quality ratings in specialties such as cardiac or orthopedic services and infertility. In 2015, just 37 percent of employers gave their employees access to COEs; in 2016, however, 45 percent did so.

Among the companies turning to COEs are General Electric Co., Wal-Mart Stores and Lowe's Cos., which have partnered with hospitals to design COE programs as a way to keep a lid on the cost of healthcare benefits. The article cites the National Business Group on Health as predicting an overall cost increase of 6 percent for health benefits in 2017.