4 takeaways from, “A more proactive approach to health benefits."

Jennifer Jones, Sr. Director of Health Strategy Services at Springbuk, and Mickelle Shults, National Practice Leader of Strategic Analytics at OneDigital, hosted the webinar to talk through the challenges and opportunities that benefits and HR leaders are facing in today’s healthcare space.

The problem? Healthcare has become a perfect storm of complexity and complacency:

• Rising Costs: Large companies estimate the total cost of healthcare will increase to $15,375 per employee in 2020.
• Amount of Data: The amount of available healthcare data has increased by 878% since 2016.
• Health Issues: Only 17% of employers feel extremely well prepared to deal with opioid abuse.

Employers don’t need more data, they need direction. And, they need innovative partners. That’s what OneDigital and Springbuk offer.

During this webinar, Jones and Shults talked through several different real-world case studies and shared how to address these problems more intelligently. Below, we’ve summarized four key takeaways.

Turn Data Fatigue Into Action

So many employers are facing paralysis by analysis. To use an old saying, “They can’t see the forest for the trees.” Intelligent data allows employers and their consultants to cut through the noise and act. OneDigital’s team leverages Health Intelligence to direct action, lead action, and consult on the most impactful opportunities.

A Single Source of Truth

Employers and their partners need a single source of truth. Too often, employers spend time trying to determine what is real vs. not. In one case, Shults referenced an employer who’s HR team, Finance team, and Carrier all had reports on the same subject matter. Each report showed different numbers and different results. Thus, when the team met, all they were able to discuss was, “whose report is correct?”

Now, with a Health Intelligence platform, they’re able to agree that Springbuk is the single source of truth. They now spend their time more strategically – solving problems. And, this allows OneDigital to do what they’re best at, consult.

Don’t Shift the Cost Curve, Change the Shape of the Cost Curve

Shults, who is an Actuary for OneDigital, spoke in-depth about the cost curve that they and their clients often look at for future spend and decision making. As she described, it’s the difference between “Fundamental Analytics” and “Fun Analytics”.

With “Fun Analytics,” clients can make short-term changes such as plan design and one-time programs that may cause a dip in the cost curve. With “Fun Analytics,” or Health Intelligence, Shults and her team can change the shape of the cost curve by looking at where the plan is going, not where it’s been. Their plans become aggressive and progressive.

Change the Conversation

The presenters’ wrapped the presentation by talking through a use case that featured an employer who’s diabetic population accounted for 10% of their total population but 22% of their spend. OneDigital’s team was able to engage this population through Omada proactively. Because the employer and OneDigital were able to target the right population, at the right time, with the right program, the engagement level far exceeded everyone’s expectations. Now, the employer is actively tracking the impact of this program as they change the course of their employees’ lives. Or as OneDigital’s Consultant said: “Springbuk Health Intelligence helps shift the conversation from dollars and cents to people.”