Highlights:

• Rising healthcare costs, inflation, and an uncertain economy emphasize the need for cost-effective healthcare solutions.
• Data analysis uncovers patterns, informing decision-making and optimizing employee health for effective healthcare programs.
• Data-driven insights increase cost transparency, aiding in evaluating third-party programs and reducing unnecessary spending.
• Partnering with a consulting practice provides expertise, strategic advantages, and improved healthcare programs at reasonable costs.

Soaring healthcare costs are not new. But combined with inflation, rising interest rates, and an uncertain economy, the importance of getting the biggest bang for your buck is on everyone’s mind this year.
 

It may seem impossible to secure appropriate healthcare for your organization on last year’s budget. Yet with the right data to support you, every organization can find a health plan to cover all of its employees’ needs – and also identify and eliminate the little extras that add to the budget but offer little to no value.

Using Your Data

Data is just a bunch of facts – until you start to analyze it. Through data analysis, organizations can find patterns that lead to meaningful interpretation, as well as better decision-making.
 
Many organizations understand that data and analytics are important for their business. The fact is, many of them even already have access to data – they just don’t know what to do with it. They may not have the background to pick out the connected pieces, or they may not understand what a flagged data point indicates. They may simply be paralyzed by the sheer volume of data, unable to move forward.
 
Yet all that data is a waste if it just sits on your company server. Once you begin to work with it, you will quickly realize that data analytics:

• Supports better decision-making. Analyzing health plans and other metadata sources (i.e., human resources information system (HRIS) data, public health, or other business intelligence) around employee benefits usage can lead human resources (HR) teams to understand why certain programs have been more successful than others. Looking at the type of prescription drugs employees are using can give clues to the severity of underlying health risks. Sometimes the data reveals that a comprehensive well-being initiative may provide the necessary resources to help plan members thrive and optimize their health. More importantly, the data may lead HR professionals in qualifying the viability of self-funding or self-insured programs

• Increases cost transparency. The data can inform the nature and the cost of introducing a third-party program. It can show the cost of the intervention and the cost of “doing nothing,” in terms of additional healthcare spending and potential utilization. This helps organizations determine the real cost in either scenario so they can make the right choice for their employees.

• Curbs healthcare spending. All too often, payments are made in error, and there is no way to recover. But through machine learning, outliers can be tagged with an alert. These alerts draw attention to deviations in payments, billing processes, and expected discounts. This helps organizations ensure they are paying the right amount at the appropriate time.

Seeking Out Support

One study found that only one-quarter of organizations consider themselves data-driven. The rest rely on a gut feeling, or sometimes they would like to use data, but they think it’s too expensive to access or the tools are too hard to use.
 
And yet the data is too valuable to ignore.
 
For many small- and medium-sized organizations, learning how to analyze the data and draw conclusions is almost a mountain to climb. HR teams are stretched thin. They simply don’t have the resources to make it happen.
 
Many of these organizations benefit from working with a consulting practice. The right consulting practice will provide your organization with a strategic advantage. Not only can it provide background and expertise in healthcare, as well as experience with forecasting, clinical risk, and predictive modeling, but it also has medical experts waiting in the wings. And all of this leads to better healthcare programs for your employees – at an appropriate cost.

Author Bio

Dr. Kryijztoff (Kryz) Novotnaj, DNP, MPH, CPHIMS, is the Chief Clinical Informatics Officer (CCIO) at Hub International. Kryz has over 20 years of experience in employee benefits, healthcare and wellness. He previously held roles in executive clinical consulting and health informatics for regional and national consulting firms. Kryz has led several key initiatives around analytic reporting using clinical methodology that has assisted employers with understanding their population’s health/illness burden.

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