It's common for a client to ask their health insurance broker, “How can we get our employees more engaged?”. Savvy employers intrinsically know that engagement is a key component to how their employees utilize their benefits. They add incredible health program enhancements (point solutions) to their plan, get excited about the offering, talk about it during Open Enrollment meetings, and even send out marketing materials to remind their employees to utilize the available solutions. Then they wonder, “Why is nobody engaging?!”
Engagement occurs when patients and providers work together with the goal of improving health. Engaged patients are actively involved in gathering information about their treatment options and making well-informed decisions related to their healthcare. Health plan members that are more engaged with their providers tend to experience better outcomes and overall better health. A study of 60,185 patients divided into two groups found that engagement increased overall healthcare savings. One group received “usual” support from health coaches, while the other group received “enhanced” support. The study generated patient engagement outcomes across multiple metrics. For patients who received enhanced support instead of usual support:
Total medical costs were 5.3 percent lower
Inpatient admissions were 12.5 percent lower
ER visits were 2.6 percent lower
Surgeries were 9.9 percent lower
Heart surgeries were 10.9 percent lower
The problem is that understanding a benefits offering is hard and navigating the complex world of healthcare is even harder. Most people are comfortable with the status quo. The data tells us that employers with high levels of engagement not only get the most out of their chosen point solutions, but they see dramatic increases in employee satisfaction and significant reductions in costs. Employers believe that if they have the best benefit offerings, they can retain and attract the best talent while lowering HR related headaches and workload – and they’re right!
At Novo Connection, we believe we’ve discovered the secret to dramatically increasing engagement for ANY industry, and we have the results to prove it. Through our unique guided healthcare model, Novo Connection members have unlimited access to a team of healthcare professionals to lead and guide them through the complex world of health insurance – and it’s all included, at no additional charge, as part of our program. Your Guided Healthcare professionals will get to know your health plan and make recommendations and outreach to members to ensure that they are engaged and making the best healthcare decisions from a clinical and fiscal standpoint.
How can self-insured employer groups provide enough familiarity for employees to be comfortable with an offering and drive the engagement our clients are looking for? Contact us today to see if Novo Connection would be a good fit for your organization. We’d love to listen to the challenges you are experiencing regarding your current health insurance program and have a conversation about how we can change healthcare for the better. We challenge you to engage!
Posted by: Ben Jenkins