Employers can be a driving force in the adoption of value-based care (VBC), the model that emphasizes coordinated care and is a departure from the traditional fee-for-service model, according to a new white paper from Cigna.

Supporters of the VBC approach have long argued that the model delivers better health and lower costs, but the massive, complex health care system in the U.S. is resistant to change. Although government markets such as Medicare are making progress on adopting the model, employer-based insurance plans and the providers they work with have been slower to embrace VBC models.

David Brailer, EVP and chief health officer of The Cigna Group, said his organization is committed to advancing the new concept. "Doctors love value-based care, and patients love it. Their health outcomes are better, hospitalizations are lower, all the metrics are better," he said. "The quality of life for the patients is so much higher because they're not as sick. What we're betting on here is that the next big area for this is going to be commercial health care."