When it comes to achieving your benefit goals, one metric should stand above the rest: your teams’ engagement with their healthcare benefits. Many employees see their health plan as a safety net for when they get sick, rather than a resource for ongoing health management. Benefit administrators often prioritize metrics like cost per employee or plan participation rates, but these pale in comparison to the impact of truly engaging employees in their health benefits. Engagement is the key to driving better outcomes, minimizing costs, encouraging smarter utilization, and improving employee satisfaction. In other words, employee benefit engagement is the key to unlocking the full value of your healthcare benefits.

What does engagement really mean?

Simply signing up for a healthcare plan through your employer does not constitute an engaged member. An employee who is engaged with their healthcare benefits:

• Understands the healthcare benefits in their plan.

• Chooses plan options based on their specific healthcare needs.

• Uses healthcare services appropriately, like visiting their primary care physician instead of an emergency department when possible.

• Routinely attends preventive care appointments and screenings.

• Stays informed about changes in their healthcare plan and any new benefits or point solutions available.

The crucial role of benefit engagement.

Benefit engagement is not just another metric; it’s the driving force behind a successful healthcare strategy. Engaged employees take an active role in their health, which leads to:

1. Better Outcomes: Engaged employees are proactive about their health. They adhere to treatment plans, keep up with regular check-ups, and effectively manage chronic conditions, leading to better health outcomes and reduced costs.

2. Cost Containment: Engagement correlates with reduced healthcare costs due to reduced unnecessary and preventable spend. When employees are informed and engaged with their benefits, they are less likely to pursue unnecessary and expensive medical procedures and better manage high-cost conditions.

3. Smarter Utilization: Understanding health benefits empowers employees to make smarter healthcare decisions. They utilize preventive services more and choose high-value care settings, ensuring they utilize the right care at the right time.

4. Improved employee health benefits satisfaction: Employees who are engaged and knowledgeable about their benefits report higher satisfaction. This satisfaction translates into higher morale and productivity which are key goals for organizations.

How care navigation drives engagement.

Every year, employers dedicate significant time and resources to meticulously analyze, select, and implement comprehensive healthcare benefit packages for their teams. However, despite extensive planning and promotion, it can be hard to get employees to actually use their benefits. Care navigation is essential for fostering deep employee engagement with healthcare benefits by:

1. Simplifying complexity: Employee health benefits can be daunting. Care navigation demystifies complex information, making it easier for employees to understand their options and make informed choices, both during benefits selection and throughout the year.

2. Personalized guidance: Patient navigation provides tailored support, addressing each employee’s unique healthcare needs to drive them to high-value care. This personalized approach ensures that employee health benefits are used effectively, providing more value than generic wellness programs.

3. Promoting preventive care: Care navigation solutions actively encourage the use of preventive care services. By emphasizing prevention, employees stay healthier and avoid costly treatments down the line.

4. Overcoming barriers to care: Patient navigation identifies and addresses obstacles that employees face in accessing care, such as scheduling conflicts or worries about costs. This proactive support ensures timely and appropriate care and that your teams get access to the care they need.

It's time to shift the focus to what truly drives value—engaging your employees in their healthcare journey. By driving engagement through care navigation, you can unlock better health outcomes, reduced spend, improved utilization of high-value care, and better employee health benefits satisfaction.

Rightway proactively engages members and is there whenever a member has a healthcare question or need. Members connect with their dedicated health guide through the Rightway app, creating a seamless path to engaging with their healthcare journey. Learn more about how concierge healthcare support for your team helps you reach your benefit goals.