Yogi Berra, one of the great modern-day philosophers has been quoted as saying, “If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else.” This has particular relevance and application to the Managed Care Resource Alliance (MCRA), a young organization with a unique focus. MCRA has a clear vision and mission though the route is unchartered and requires much real-time learning, feedback, and self-correction.
MCRA was conceptualized approximately 18 months ago with the vision of creating a “safe space” for managed care vendors, each vendor bringing a unique specialty, to “test” new ideas with non-competing colleagues. Our members are clearly focused on being creative, innovative and proactive in both business development and relationship building. Our collaborative approach enhances industry knowledge, trends, and pain-points for our members. The partnerships being developed provide deeper solutions that address today’s Health Plan challenges. Industry relevant issues such as pricing transparency, Star Scores, interoperability, social determinants of health, payor-provider/member-relationship/experience/engagement are routinely discussed—not from an academic, unidimensional perspective, but from an enterprise perspective, understanding the unique interdependencies that exist within the complexities of a Managed Care Organization ecosystem.
This past year, 2022 evidenced a growing interest in industry vendors to actively participate with MCRA, and we can report that MCRA grew from 17 members to a year-end membership of 22. Additionally, there is a pipeline of vendors having made made inquiry as to joining. Paralleling MCRA membership growth is our MCRA LinkedIn page that has grown from approximately 500 to nearly 1,400 followers.
Based on feedback from our membership and level of continued interest, we are confident in MCRA’s continued growth as we work toward our goal of one leading member for all categories of Health Plan requirements. As an organization built on innovation, we do not fear failure, we learn from our creative efforts and adjust as necessary. Fearing failure stifles creative thought and we are focused on just that.
Our future efforts will include continued growth of active members and followers; MCRA will partner with subject matter experts and advisors to expand member knowledge and industry connectivity. We will continue to promote thought leadership through various media and conference outlets as well as cross promoting each of our members to each other. One lesson learned is that collaboration between vendors cannot be forced, this is a natural byproduct of relationship building and will occur organically. For the foreseeable future, MCRA will continue to identify opportunities for our members and facilitate discussions between members, but leave the collaborative efforts to be self-initiated by our members.
We believe that MCRA is in a rare position, at the juncture of industry challenges, provider dynamics, and member experience. Working across all MCRA members, we are continually challenging each other, driving change and innovation, and ultimately working as an integrated organization rather than a collection of point solutions. Our growth and evolution will be driven and overseen by our members, and together we look to a very bright future for both MCRA members and the industry we serve.
I share Buzz Lightyear’s perspective on our future…”to infinity and beyond”!
Barry Volin CEO & Co-Founder Managed Care Resource Alliance
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