Regional Leader Information
Website: gatewaybhc.org
Region: Missouri
Covered Counties: Missouri (all counties); Illinois (Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Monroe, St. Clair)
Contact: Laurel Pickering
Title: President & CEO, Gateway Business Health Coalition
Address: 8888 Ladue Road, Suite 250, St. Louis, MO 63124
Phone: 314.721.7800
Email: lpickering@stlbhc.org
The Gateway Business Health Coalition (BHC) is a nonprofit organization representing nearly 70 leading employers, which provide health benefits to thousands of lives in Missouri and millions nationally. For 42 years, the BHC has worked to achieve its mission of supporting employer efforts to improve the well-being of their employees and enhance the quality and overall value of their investments in health benefits. To accomplish these aims, the BHC centers its work on providing pertinent research, resources, and educational opportunities to help employers understand best practices for the strategic design, and informed use, of benefits to facilitate high-quality, affordable health care.
Why did your organization decide to apply to become a Leapfrog Regional Leader?
BHC’s interest in becoming a Regional Leader is derived from its vision of a community where comparative cost and quality data on health care treatments and providers is freely available and used by consumers, employers, health plans, and providers in making health care, health benefit, and provider compensation decisions. BHC applied to be part of the first wave of Regional Leaders because of the cross cutting, system-wide improvements targeted by Leapfrog.
In your view, what kind of impact has Leapfrog had on your market thus far?
Leapfrog has had a positive impact. Although research demonstrated the benefits in system improvements (such as the implementation of computerized provider order entry and intensivists staffing), these improvements were all but being ignored by the provider community. The Leapfrog Group’s work helped hasten the adoption of safe practices through its voluntary survey that differentiated hospitals’ performance, informed the public, and helped motivate hospitals to improve patient safety faster.
The Hospital Safety Grade enables BHC to report on hospital safety in a consumer-friendly way in public reports and consumer guides.
Market Information
Geographic coverage: Missouri & St. Louis MSA, which includes southern Illinois
Population: 6.196 million people in Missouri (2023)
Number of employer/coalition lives in region: Approximately 500,000 in Missouri
List of area’s largest employers
Missouri (MERIC, 2019):
Walmart
Mercy Health System
BJC HealthCare
Washington University in St. Louis
SSM Health Care
Boeing
St. Luke’s Hospital System (KC)
Cerner Corporation
Cox Medical System
Schnuck Markets, Inc.
St. Louis (St. Louis Business Journal Book of Lists, 2024):
BJC HealthCare – 33,797
Washington University in St. Louis – 21,278
Walmart Inc. – 17,000
Boeing Defense, Space & Security – 16,681
SSM Health Care – 15,631
Mercy Health System – 15,342
Scott Air Force Base – 13,100
Schnuck Markets, Inc. – 8,496
McDonald’s – 8,415
Archdiocese of St. Louis – 7,000
Hospital characteristics:
Total number of general acute care facilities, broken down by hospital system
BJC Healthcare (including Saint Luke’s KC) – 16
Mercy – 15
SSM Health Care – 10
HCA Healthcare - 6
CoxHealth – 4
Other hospitals – 30+
Insurer characteristics:
Missouri large employer comprehensive health insurance market share, 2022 (MO Department of Commerce & Insurance’s Health Insurance Market Report)
Elevance Health Inc Group (34%)
BCBS of KC Group (28%)
UnitedHealth Group (23%)
Cigna Health Group (7%)
All others (8%)