2024 Employee Healthcare Management Summit

Conference Registration & Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am

Chairperson’s Opening Remarks

8:15am – 9:00am

The Future of Employee Healthcare Benefits

Employee healthcare benefits are under threat in the U.S. Inflation is boosting healthcare costs in general to as much as $370 billion higher in 2027 relative to pre-COVID-19 pandemic projections. Costs associated with endemic COVID-19 could add to this estimate. Providers are already feeling the effects of inflation but its impact on most employers and consumers is likely to come in the next few years. Healthcare costs for employers could rise by 9 to 10 percent through 2026. Rising healthcare costs could reduce the profits of employers across industries. And if cost pressures are unmanaged, the most vulnerable employees could be spending three-quarters of their discretionary income on medical expenses. And pressure on health benefits will affect employer value propositions at a time of talent shortage. This session will explore how employers must rethink how to administer their employee health benefits and manage cost increases in the short- and long-term.

9:00am – 9:45am

Ways Data Can Help Benefit Leaders Improve Employee Health

Navigating an employee health plan can be overwhelming. For company benefit leaders, a lot rests on their shoulders: Which plan offers the best services, is most cost-effective, has the highest access to PCPs, and utilizes preventive services effectively? By leveraging strategic data to improve employee health, the process becomes empowering, and the impact is measurable. And as leaders across industries assess how to remain competitive in their markets, ensuring their employees are healthy and that their organizations are productive and performing are paramount to ongoing success. The landscape for human resources executives, total rewards executives, and benefits leaders continues to evolve, and knowing their employees requires an increased focus on data to inform their strategies and improve the overall employee experience. With healthcare as the increasing cost and area of focus for all C-suite team members, finding the best solutions to drive high-quality, accessible, and cost-effective care for all is often a Rubik’s cube of decisions. By consistently using data to implement new practices and to understand employees’ needs, benefit leaders will get it right the first time, driving significant cost savings for the company. This is just the beginning of leveraging data for every step in the employee healthcare journey. This session will explore how focusing on generating actionable insights for both employers and employees, the power of data can change the healthcare landscape.

9:45am – 10:15am

Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am

How to Prioritize Mental Health in the Workplace

Talking about mental health in a work environment has historically been taboo—after all, no employee wants to seem as if they can’t handle their workload and risk losing their job. But there is a growing effort to destigmatize these conversations to build a better culture of wellness. And organizations must go beyond mere talk to put resources, support networks, and benefits in place, so their employees are cared for.

While mental health might not be discussed in workplace safety circles as much as visible risks like accidents or injuries, it is just as important to prioritize. And there is no better time than now to focus on mental health.

Addressing mental health in the workplace is no longer optional. Unaddressed mental health concerns can have major implications for the health of employees and the overall function of a business. This session will break down those implications and what companies can do to help.

11:00am – 11:45am

Employer Engagement and Response to the Opioid Epidemic

Employers across the country have struggled on how to appropriately engage and respond to the opioid crisis. Employment is one of the most crucial social determinants of health factors and plays a vital role into an individual’s success to recovery. Yet, patients often find themselves being terminated or unable to access employment during or post treatment. Companies have tools at their disposal to retain their employees but may not be aware of all the factors to consider, including access, cost, health plan coverage, EAP, and legal considerations. Tactics exist to engage employers in the community through education regarding addiction and the role trauma plays into one’s substance use and/or mental health disorder(s). This session will provide solutions regarding employer engagement and education regarding this challenge.

11:45am – 12:30pm

Ways to Create a Whole Person Employee Well-being Program

Whole person well-being — physical, emotional and financial well-being — isn’t a new term to the HR industry. Life is a balancing act of work, relationships, family, finances, hobbies and more, and acknowledging that every person has multiple roles in both work and life — and that they’re all connected — is becoming more apparent than ever in the workplace. With many HR professionals on board with the concept of whole person well-being, it’s no longer a question that it’s crucial to employee engagement, but more a matter of how to bring this approach to life in employee well-being programs.  A successful well-being program needs to address all facets. And because of this, a whole-person approach to well-being is needed now more than ever in employee programs. From manager and organizational support to culture and intrinsic motivational drivers, a successful well-being program has many layers. While the challenge of a great well-being program is huge, a whole-person approach will set you up for success, and the payoff will be even bigger. This session will explore how to create an effective whole-person well-being program.

12:30pm – 1:30pm

Luncheon

1:30pm – 2:15pm

How to Eliminate Vendor Fatigue

HR departments are taking on more responsibility to win the fight for top talent and control healthcare costs while balancing a valuable benefit offering.  All working towards helping their organizations succeed. With the changing healthcare landscape, the shift towards higher deductibles the increased compliance needs, and the looming federal changes brings the need for employers to look towards outsourcing services and administration. The juggling of numerous vendors to administer services often with inefficiencies caused by manual processes results in vendor fatigue.  This is due to working through several contacts, reviewing multiple service agreements, managing multiple platforms all while taking up valuable time and eroding the efficiency that the outsourcing was supposed to provide. As vendor fatigue sets in, HR teams are looking for vendors who provide more than one service on a single, leading – edge technology that streamlines several functions all managed through one company and one contact. This session will explore how to eliminate vendor fatigue and focus more on strategic organizational initiatives.

2:15pm – 3:15pm

Panel: How to Maintain Employee Benefits Engagement Throughout the Year

Most of us can relate to situations where we’ve had access to useful resources yet didn’t utilize them as much as we should have—or sometimes even at all. Whether it’s a gym membership or a subscription to a magazine, we often don’t take advantage of the things we have at our fingertips, even when they could benefit us greatly. The same can be said about employee benefits. While the average employer offers around 30-40 different benefits programs to their employees, the percentage of employees actually using them is staggeringly low—less than 5 percent. Not only does this mean that employees are missing out on opportunities to make smarter healthcare decisions, but also employers are losing healthcare dollars by providing experiences that don’t drive results they are looking for, like higher enrollment in specific plans, greater utilization rates and, ultimately, smarter employee healthcare choices. This session will explore how to create an ideal benefits experience to drive engagement.

3:15pm – 3:45pm

Networking & Refreshments Break

3:45pm – 4:30pm

How Employers Can Help Advance Health Equity in the Workplace

The COVID-19 pandemic and a national reckoning on racial injustice in the U.S. in 2020 drew attention to many disparities among Americans, including access to healthcare and outcomes in health. Those gaps continue to exist including for individuals who work for large U.S. employers. Health equity in the workplace means that all employees have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Large employers have long offered employer-sponsored health insurance, but now many are asking what more they can do to help employees access the healthcare and other benefits they need. This session will explore actions employers can take to improve health equity. By taking action to support health equity among employees, employers can not only build a healthier and more productive workforce but also improve employee retention, broaden impact on families over generations, and help create a more just society. Additionally, increased engagement could help employers defray long-term costs.

4:30pm – 5:15pm

Leveraging Analytics to Increase Employee Engagement for Better Outcomes

Employee populations are diverse and complex — geography, demographics, type of work, interests and values all play a role in defining unique individuals. And considering that about 50 percent of Americans have employer-based health care coverage, there’s no shortage of health-related data available for analysis. What employers do with that data, though, can help define their health benefits strategy. This session will explore how leveraging advanced analytics to process multiple sources of data — ranging from claims to physical and behavioral health data — can help create a more personalized member experience and drive engagement. By identifying unique populations and sub-populations, employers may provide these employees with more tailored support to navigate the health system.

5:15pm

End of Day One

Networking Breakfast

8:00am – 8:15am

Chairperson’s Remarks

8:15am – 9:00am

How Virtual Primary Care Supports Employers and Their Employees

Primary care allows trusted doctors to provide high-quality healthcare to patients — including preventive treatment, medication management, and support for chronic disease and whole-person wellness. Routine visits with a primary care physician (PCP) can decrease healthcare costs significantly. However, the issue lies with usage. More than 60 percent of Americans either don’t have or don’t use their primary care physician.  Personal barriers such as cost, travel, time off work or arranging childcare deter people from seeking care. A PCP shortage is also a barrier to getting care with the national wait time to see a PCP averaging 24 days. Virtual primary care removes these barriers and offers patients access to convenient healthcare, encouraging usage to save on healthcare costs down the line. This session will explore why companies, large and small, should lean into telehealth to support employee wellness and productivity, reduce absenteeism and protect the bottom line. Learn how virtual care can support employers and their workforce:

9:00am – 9:45am

Why Employee Mental Health Should be Part of Your Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Belonging Strategy
Many organizations are prioritizing the implementation of effective diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) strategies to better support employees of diverse cultures and backgrounds. One DEIB strategy that is often overlooked is employee mental health, a fundamental part of people’s overall wellness. This is why it’s vital for employers to create a foundation to better understand and support the mental wellbeing of a diverse workforce and offer helpful tools and resources. Mental health challenges can affect everyone, but not always the same way. Unmet mental health needs like these can impact an employee’s job performance, attendance, productivity, engagement, communication, and physical capability at work. This session will explore the critical intersection between DEIB and mental health.

9:45am – 10:15am

Networking & Refreshments Break

10:15am – 11:00am

Personalized, Value-Based Employee Benefits

Transformation in healthcare is introducing new terms to the employer market: clinical response under 20 seconds, AI learning tools, digitally driven results, improved medical literacy, cost-effective rise of blended physical and virtual worlds to improve care, metrics scoring of quantitative and qualitative measurements, data validation of pricing transparency. Employers not only see these terms as realistic future state expectations but essential attributes when reimagining the future of value-based employee benefit strategies for their workforce. The specific healthcare needs of a complex workforce cannot be met by a one-size-fits-all approach. This session will explore reimagining value-based employee benefits that begin with personalization.

11:00am – 11:45am

How to Create an Employee Wellness Program to Promote Workplace Health

Some hardworking people prioritize their job over health. They skip lunch and stay up late to get the job done. They don’t have time to exercise because they work all the time. And they never take a sick or personal day.

This is an admiral yet foolish approach to work. Personal health always needs to come first. It’s the key to living a long and fulfilling life. Being in good physical and mental shape also sets a person up to be great at their job. Many companies understand this and offer their employees a series of benefits and activities that promote health and well-being. This is known as an employee wellness program. In this session, you’ll learn the advantages of a wellness program and the steps for implementing one in your company.

11:45am – 12:30pm

Adopting a Comprehensive Approach to Employee Healthcare

The new employment backdrop, based on hybrid working environments and a greater use of new technologies, has come with new ways of working which enable both organizations and their employees to achieve greater efficiency, adaptability and flexibility. However, their implementation is, in some cases, triggering a series of related difficulties. They include the appearance of high levels of ongoing stress, or even the inability to disconnect from work effectively. The use of digital applications has also enabled us to use smartphones to reply to emails, view documents and receive calls. This immediacy and versatility, at the touch of a button, means that workers are encouraged to deal with work issues at any time and in any place, fostering the rise of the ‘always on’ culture. Faced with this new working environment, organizations are responsible for approaching and managing this issue by taking a holistic approach to health, which takes account of all aspects of life that have a direct impact upon their employees’ wellness. This session will explore adopting a holistic approach to employee healthcare and how it can improve outcomes.

12:30pm

Conference Concludes

Workshop: Ways to Improve Employee Engagement in Healthcare

As companies evolve their benefits offerings, new programs and vendors are added to support employees’ needs, corporate initiatives or to make targeted efforts in controlling healthcare spending. HR teams go to great effort to bring in the best vendor to match their company culture, budget and timelines. Benefits programs like condition management, referral programs, second opinion counseling or explanation of benefits management are on the rise. When the new initiative rolls out, why is employee engagement lower than expected? Even years after implementing a new condition management program, employers are frustrated with the lack of engagement and employee’s reliance on HR to tell them where to go for information. One reason for low engagement is employees are overwhelmed with the vast landscape of programs, vendors, websites, phone numbers and ID numbers. This session will explore how HR can increase engagement with vendors and programs in a clear and simple way, including:

– How to deliver a better open enrollment experience

– How to recreate and automate the “just ask HR” experience

– How to engage employees in new ways throughout the year

– How to educate employees through targeted knowledge management methods