The Employers' Coalition on Health (ECOH) was founded in 1995 by ten Rockford-area employers with a common goal of bringing quality improvement methods into their trading relationships with healthcare suppliers. This required employers to join their claims data together in order to measure what they were buying from Rock River valley providers. The means available to join that data was the creatio
n of an employer-owned Preferred Provider Organization. Over time, ECOH has become more known for its PPO network than its role as the collective healthcare purchasing power of local employers. The importance of that voice has never lessened. It has never been more important than it is today. Our member companies include service companies, manufacturers, health care providers, municipalities, local government, and school districts. Like our membership, ECOH's provider network has grown to include providers in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin with more than 4,500 primary and specialty care providers and 22 hospitals. At ECOH, our focus on quality has led to the development of collaborative initiatives with providers in the areas of payment reform, patient satisfaction, diabetes management, plan design and treatment best practices, and on-site health and wellness education. You can be sure at this moment ECOH is focused on the health issues that matter most to employers in the Rock River Valley. There is no other agenda, no external profit motive. It’s who we are. It’s what we do.
