Companies are facing some tough choices as they seek to balance the need to give employees quality health plans with managing the steady rise of healthcare costs. In a webinar sponsored by Personify Health, executives from international chemical company Dow and the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions discussed some of the tough choices companies are making and how they are using benefits and care navigation to manage costs. Erica Morganstern, Personify Health Chief Marketing Officer, served as the moderator.

Passing more costs on to employees

Jenny Goins is Chief of Staff with the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions, an organization whose members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and labor union organizations that provide health benefits for more than 45 million Americans. She cited a November survey of Coalition members, which included responses from 188 employers, spanning small to large companies. She noted that rising healthcare costs impact their ability to compete for the best employees. A majority, 74%, said rising healthcare costs had forced them to make trade-offs, with 84% saying they were passing more healthcare costs on to employees.

Eliminate duplication of services by healthcare vendors

Peggy Sczepanski, Dow Global Wellbeing Program Manager, stressed the importance of clear communication with healthcare vendors so that they understand the company's needs and expectations. "Nurturing those relationships with our partners and helping them be successful is one more way that we can reduce duplication and overlap between different services, which ultimately leads to confusion for our employees and ... a lot of wasted costs for the company."

Hold healthcare vendors accountable for results

Goins noted that it's important to have ways to quantify the success or failure of vendors so that their performance can be quantified and they can be held accountable for them, especially in regard to mental health and women's health.

Use vendors that improve employees' quality of life

Dow added Maven to the companies that provide services to its employees, Sczepanski said. The maternal health vendor provides support through pregnancy and after the birth of a child. Dow also added another ecosystem partner -- Cariloop, which focuses on supporting caregivers to help reduce stress and burnout.

"This becomes a huge benefit for people...We've blown away their book of business in terms of our enrollment and what we're learning so far. We're still learning, but those are two specific benefits that we've launched this year in response to some of the women's health concerns around needing not only specialized care in pregnancy and birth and as a young, new parent, but also the spectrum of caregiving. Now we have people that are both caring for their little ones and caring for a mom and dad or aunts and uncles.

Educating employees on when to use ER, urgent care, and primary care

Raising awareness of when best to use the ER and when to use urgent care is also a way to curb healthcare costs, Morganstern said. "We've definitely done some programs for clients around appropriate use of the ER vs. urgent care vs. a primary care physician. Although it sounds basic, it saves so much money!"

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