Will Increased Awareness and Engagement Actually Improve Health Outcomes?
The Challenge / Opportunity
Large employer groups invest heavily to provide robust benefit offerings for their employees. Despite their best efforts, employers still see low engagement and utilization from their employees. And with an ever-growing number of point solutions, and customizations, health care benefit offerings will only continue to grow in complexity. Which will increase friction, and make it even more difficult for employees to navigate their benefit options.
Who is Affected?
- Large employer groups
- Workers
- Payers
- Health Systems & Providers
- Point Solution Vendors
The User Journey
During open enrollment employees typically have a 2 to 3-week window to update and/or select their benefit options. They are inundated with information and given a limited amount of time to make some significant and potentially costly decisions.
After the open enrollment window closes employees wait for their new insurance card and spend the rest of the year navigating the healthcare landscape on their own. Hoping to remember what to do and where to go when/if something bad happens.
Gain Insights Through Empathy
“I have to be my own health advocate”
“There is no motivation to shop for healthcare services”
“Make healthcare decisions less mysterious…”
“There is a big gap of information”
How might we increase health care benefit awareness and engagement to improve health outcomes?
Concept Overview
Benefit News You Can Use-A Holistic Approach
Yearlong, targeted communication plans, mandatory annual benefit training courses, and the addition of “health management” PTO days for visits to the doctor.
Key Features:
Yearlong targeted benefit messaging campaigns. Quarterly, targeted message campaigns to keep employees aware and engaged throughout the year. The targeted message campaigns will be used to reimagine the typical “set-it” and “forget it” nature of annual enrollment.
Mandatory annual benefit training. Sticks in lieu of carrots. Mandatory training will be used as a tool to encourage employees to become more knowledgeable about their benefit options.
Health management PTO. Employers will deploy a health management PTO day to encourage employees to visit their doctor and get their annual checkup.
Key Testable Assumptions
1. Targeted messaging campaigns will increase benefit awareness & engagement
2. Targeted messaging campaigns will improve employee benefit utilization
3. Improved utilization will improve health outcomes
4. Increased awareness & engagement will improve health outcomes
5. Employees will utilize health management PTO to get their annual checkup
Why Will This Concept Be Successful?
Catalyst to a culture shift. The continuous messaging approach (nudging), mandatory training, and health management PTO will create a culture shift where employees become more knowledgeable and actively engaged with their personal health.
How Could This Concept Fail Miserably?
Big brother is watching. Employees will see mandatory benefit training as just another useless task keeping them away from their “real work.” And targeted messaging campaigns will backfire as more and more people become concerned with how their personal data is being used.
One of the things I enjoy most about the design thinking process is collaborating with people from different backgrounds…
➕ What did I miss?
✔️ How would you solve the problem?
✖️ Or is it even a problem at all?
