Catalyst for Payment Reform

What Catalyst for Payment Reform does

Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2009 and headquartered in Berkeley, California. Its mission is to help healthcare purchasers — primarily large self-funded employers and public purchasers — reduce costs and improve care quality by promoting value-based payment, price transparency, and high-value purchasing strategies. CPR operates as a membership coalition that convenes purchasers, develops standardized tools, and conducts research to influence the U.S. commercial healthcare market.

CPR's core offerings are organized around three product families. First, Payment Reform Scorecards and Price Transparency Report Cards (including the 2017 National Scorecard on Payment Reform, California Scorecards, New York Scorecards, and the 2020 Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws) track longitudinal progress on value-oriented payment adoption and state-level transparency regulation. Second, the Toolkit portfolio includes the Aligned Sourcing & Contracting Toolkit ($399), Purchaser Tools for Breaking Barriers to Data Ownership ($299), the Building a High-Value Maternity Network Toolkit, and the Purchaser Toolkit for Serious Illness Care Strategies (developed with the Center to Advance Palliative Care). Third, the 2024 Value Index Tool is a customizable analytics product that integrates cost, quality, and geographic data from Leapfrog Group, Turquoise Health, Health Care Cost Institute, RAND, and CMS to score and rank hospitals for joint replacement surgery. Supporting products include the Reform Evaluation Frameworks (REFs/SPARC) for standardized program measurement, online education courses on high-value purchasing, and thought-leadership content such as the "Listening In (With Permission)" podcast and the Great Steeplechase and State of Healthcare research reports. In May 2025, CPR also released the first-ever National Principles for Value-Based Payment.

CPR's business model is diversified across five revenue streams: foundation grants (Arnold Ventures, California Health Care Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, NY Health Foundation, Peterson Center on Healthcare, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), Premier and Affiliate Membership Dues from employers, public purchasers, and benefits consultants, Enterprise Subscriptions to benefits advisors/brokers/health plans/TPAs/vendors, individual product sales ($49–$399), and commissioned contract work. Most resources are provided free to employer-purchasers via the Catalyze.org platform under a freemium model, with paid access for other organizations. The organization operates with a small team (1-10 employees) and is led by Executive Director Andréa E. Caballero following the May 2024 passing of founding Executive Director Suzanne Delbanco.

Name

Catalyst for Payment Reform

Legal name

Catalyst for Payment Reform, Inc.

Website

https://catalyze.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Catalyst for Payment Reform is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that helps large self-funded employers, public purchasers, and benefits consultants implement value-based healthcare purchasing through standardized toolkits, scorecards, and the Value Index analytics tool.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: CPR receives funding from philanthropic foundations including Arnold Ventures, California Health Care Foundation, Commonwealth Fund, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, New York Health Foundation, Peterson Center on Healthcare, and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for specific research and program initiatives
2. Membership Dues: Premier Membership for private employers, public purchasers, and benefits consulting firms; Affiliate Membership for other healthcare organizations - annual dues vary by organization type and size
3. Enterprise Subscriptions: Subscription access to full library of tools, resources, online courses, webinar recordings, and live events for benefit advisors, brokers, health plans, TPAs, and vendors
4. Product Sales: Sale of CPR products and resources including toolkits, action briefs, and research reports to non-members
5. Contract Work: Commissioned and contract work conducted for private companies, consulting firms, nonprofit organizations, and federal and state agencies requiring subject matter expertise, research, and project management

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works with employers, public purchasers, and policymakers to improve healthcare payment and delivery. It produces research, scorecards, toolkits, online courses, and frameworks such as the Value Index Tool and Reform Evaluation Frameworks (REFs), and convenes purchaser coalitions to drive adoption of value-based purchasing, price transparency, and high-performance network strategies.

Product overview

Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) is a nonprofit organization that provides a comprehensive suite of resources for healthcare purchasers to achieve higher value care. The core offerings include the Value Index Tool for hospital quality/cost analysis, Payment Reform Scorecards and Price Transparency Report Cards for tracking market progress, and various Toolkits (Aligned Sourcing & Contracting Toolkit, Breaking Barriers to Data Ownership, Maternity Network Toolkit, Serious Illness Care Toolkit). CPR also offers Online Courses on high-value healthcare purchasing and hosts the Listening In podcast for thought leadership. Enterprise subscriptions provide access to the full resource library including 45+ tools, 60+ webinar recordings, and 12+ case studies. Research publications like The Great Steeplechase Report and State of Healthcare policy briefs support purchasers with data-driven insights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Value Index Tool An interactive analytical tool that lets employers and purchasers compare healthcare value across regions, networks, and providers to inform contracting and benefit design decisions.
• Payment Reform Scorecards National and state scorecards grading progress on payment reform implementation, designed for employers, public purchasers, and policy advocates tracking accountability.
• Price Transparency Report Cards Report cards evaluating state-level price transparency laws and how effectively they expose healthcare prices to purchasers and consumers.
• Aligned Sourcing and Contracting Toolkit A toolkit guiding purchasers and benefits teams on strategies for aligning health plan, provider, and vendor contracting with value-based purchasing goals.
• Purchaser Tools for Breaking Barriers to Data Ownership, Access, and Use A toolkit equipping purchasers to overcome legal, technical, and contractual barriers to obtaining and using claims, clinical, and price data from health plans and providers.
• Building a High-Value Maternity Network Toolkit A toolkit supporting employers and purchasers in designing, evaluating, and contracting for high-value maternity care networks.
• Purchaser Toolkit for Serious Illness Care Strategies A toolkit providing purchasers with strategies for contracting and benefit design related to serious illness, palliative, and end-of-life care.
• Online Courses on High-Value Health Care Purchasing Self-paced online educational courses teaching employers, benefits staff, and policymakers the fundamentals of high-value healthcare purchasing.
• Reform Evaluation Frameworks (REFs) Standardized evaluation frameworks used to assess whether payment reform models are advancing healthcare quality, cost, and equity goals.

Quantifiable outcome

• Helped increase quality-tied healthcare payments from 1-3% in 2010 to 60%+ today
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, core and supporting.

• URACstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 June 2024CPR and URAC partnered in developing value-based payment principles and an accreditation program to advance quality and value in healthcare payment models.
• Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCPR partnered with CAPC to expand awareness and support of palliative care among purchasers, creating tools including a How-to-Guide, Purchaser Toolkit, case studies, and contract language templates.
• Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI)supportingTechnology or IntegrationContributed data and expertise to CPR's Value Index tool for hospital evaluation, combining cost, quality, and geographic information.
• The Leapfrog GroupsupportingTechnology or IntegrationContributed hospital safety and quality data to CPR's Value Index tool for evaluating joint replacement surgery providers.
• Turquoise HealthsupportingTechnology or IntegrationContributed price transparency data to CPR's Value Index tool for hospital cost analysis and evaluation.
• Sage TransparencysupportingTechnology or IntegrationContributed price and quality transparency data to CPR's Value Index tool for hospital evaluation.
• XO HealthsupportingTechnology or IntegrationContributed data and expertise as a partner in CPR's Value Index tool development.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mercer: Global benefits consulting firm advising large employers on healthcare strategy and purchasing. Represents a potential channel partner and revenue source for CPR enterprise subscriptions, while also a competitor in employer healthcare intelligence.

Others

• American Benefits Council: Trade association representing large employers on health and retirement benefits policy. Adjacent to CPR: not a research or tool provider, but shares the same employer-purchaser advocacy footprint in Washington.

Emerging players

• Turquoise Health: Commercial price transparency platform that aggregates hospital rate and quality data. CPR partners with Turquoise Health for the Value Index tool but Turquoise operates as a vendor, whereas CPR is a neutral purchaser coalition.
• Sage Transparency: Employer-focused price transparency tool providing hospital ratings using negotiated rate data. Serves the same employer purchaser segment as CPR but with a narrower product focus.

Direct peers

• The Leapfrog Group: National nonprofit watchdog that collects and publicly reports hospital quality and safety data, serving employer purchasers and benefit consultants. Directly comparable to CPR's hospital quality and transparency focus.
• National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions: National association of regional employer purchaser coalitions representing over 12,000 employers. CPR is an active participant in this coalition ecosystem and addresses the same employer purchasers.
• Business Group on Health: National nonprofit association of large employers focused on healthcare benefits strategy and value-based purchasing. Serves the same Fortune 500 employer purchaser segment as CPR and publishes research and convening similar in scope.
• Pacific Business Group on Health: California-based employer-led healthcare purchaser coalition that negotiates and designs value-based purchasing strategies on behalf of large employers. Operates a near-identical model to CPR with overlapping membership and policy advocacy focus.
• Integrated Benefits Institute: National nonprofit research and measurement organization dedicated to health and productivity for employers. Overlaps with CPR's employer purchaser focus and produces research-based tools for workforce health.
• Health Care Cost Institute: Independent nonprofit research institute providing claims-based healthcare cost and utilization data to employers, policymakers, and researchers. CPR partners with HCCI for the Value Index tool and serves overlapping audiences.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/catalyst-for-payment-reform

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Catalyst for Payment Reform