Health plans often find out about competitor contract changes only when their own negotiation with a health system kicks off, and then by checking price transparency data one provider at a time.
Market Intelligence, new in DecipherPro, shows which contracts changed across your market each month and how your terms compare with a competitor's over time. It helps health plans protect their medical cost position, identify unfavorable reimbursement trends, strengthen provider negotiations, and make better network contracting decisions.
It has two views. Contract changes shows which contracts changed each month and roughly by how much. Network comparison shows how your headline terms compare with a competitor's, like for like, over time. Both speak the language health plans negotiate in: MS-DRG base rates, APC and RBRVS conversion factors and the other reimbursement methodologies many of them use.
The network comparison view shows, over time, whether your terms are getting better or worse relative to a competitor's, which is where an unfavorable reimbursement trend shows up.
Negotiations are starting to become more competitive since price transparency. In our 2026 Mid-Year Trend Report data, the gap between two networks paying the same hospital narrowed from 20.1% in June 2025 to 19.6% in June 2026 on MS-DRG base rates, across 1,329 hospitals, weighted by net patient revenue.1 A half-point move in the aggregate can be a large move in a specific market, for example when one carrier catches up with another.
With the contract changes view, senior leaders can see quickly and easily when a competitor renegotiated with a system, and respond to the change when it shows up. They no longer have to wait for their own negotiation to kick off, run the analysis and find out then. Responding sooner may mean opening the discussion with the system earlier than the next renegotiation.
One of our clients was thrilled at how much time it will save them, and that it puts them in a position to share key contract changes with senior leadership every month.
Seeing how competitors are renegotiating, month by month, helps a plan set more appropriate unit cost targets, in aggregate and system by system. Each month, the contract changes view shows the renegotiations that appeared in price transparency data across your market. They often show up the month a contract goes live or the month after; some take a few months or more.
A plan's competitive position can now be watched between renewals. The practical step is a monthly review with senior leadership: which contracts in the market changed that month, and whether your terms are getting better or worse against a competitor's.
Vairate builds DecipherPro, negotiation intelligence for payer–provider contracting. Market Intelligence is available to DecipherPro customers.
