Research standards
Data methodology and editorial standards
DirectContract is built as a research database first. We separate documented facts from company-reported claims, preserve source provenance, and avoid combining economics that are not directly comparable.
What qualifies as a tracked arrangement
A record enters the database when public evidence supports a meaningful employer-, fund-, platform-, or provider-facing contracting relationship. Evidence can include signed agreements, procurement records, employer benefit materials, provider announcements, public filings, governance documents, contract exhibits, administrator case studies, or other reliable first-party documentation.
Verification tiers
Confirmed means strong first-party or contract evidence directly supports the arrangement. Sourced means a credible public source supports the record but the underlying agreement or equivalent primary documentation is not available. Submitted means a reader or market participant supplied the lead and it remains subject to DirectContract review.
Economics and savings evidence
We distinguish between negotiated rates, Medicare-indexed reimbursement, per-member savings, per-episode savings, employer-level annual savings, avoided costs, and percentage reductions. These figures are not added together into a single aggregate savings number unless the methodology is directly comparable.
Company- or customer-reported savings remain labeled as reported claims unless independent evidence supports the figure. A published percentage does not automatically become a benchmark for another employer, geography, population, or service line.
Entity pages and programmatic data
Provider, employer, and contract-model pages are generated from the same underlying deal records used in the live tracker. Counts, counterparties, markets, covered lives, and reported economics update as the database changes.
Editorial analysis
Intelligence articles can include interpretation and market analysis, but factual claims should be tied to cited sources or clearly identified as company-reported. Sponsored relationships do not change verification standards or determine inclusion in the tracker.
Corrections
If a source changes, a contract expires, a company disputes a record, or we identify an error, we update the underlying data and preserve the clearest current description available. Material article updates can carry an updated date in addition to the original publication date.
What the database does not claim
DirectContract is not a complete census of every private employer-provider agreement in the United States. Many contracts are confidential. The database represents arrangements supported by evidence we can verify and publish.