Guest Post By: JenN’tech
Employee engagement through benefits is a critical driver to help achieve success. For some employees, health insurance and benefits may seem nonsensical, but it can actually be a key element for a company’s growth.
Currently, business leaders are facing immense pressure in providing their staff with comprehensive health coverage without increasing their expenses. However, it has been anticipated that the employer-sponsored medical plans will continue to rise above the rate of inflation. The average annual increase in health benefit cost per employee as of 2015 was at 3.8%, followed by 4.3% in 2016. Due to this rising cost of health benefits, employers feel an urge to control expenditures while continually encouraging their employees to stay healthy.
However, there are particular questions that need to be addressed first, such as:
• Is the data gathered rich enough to plan benefit strategies?
• Does it assist employees to make informed, personalized decisions?
• Is the data representative of the geographical and demographics of the work sites?
• Does it help the company and the employees address quality as well as the cost of care?
Health data is a critical starting point to drive systematic change that can help businesses develop forward-thinking healthcare options for their staff. It helps companies to make informed decisions and meet business objectives by building a culture of intent. Data analytics help them identify key patterns, trends, and opportunities for improvement that enables the human resource managers to gain insights on what’s working, what isn’t, and to adjust things accordingly.
However, the only way to fully leverage the potential of the health data is through focused data mining efforts. The importance of utilizing solutions that capture, aggregate, and analyze big data is not “a part-time job,” said Al Adamsen of Talent Strategy Institute. He further discussed the need for analytics to drive workforce planning.
“Do I have the right development and recruiting strategies in place? With data, we can take a focused, systematic approach,” said Adamsen.
Currently, businesses understand that healthcare is a top enterprise cost, however, many fail to focus their efforts on providing the best coverage to employees. Most employers do not understand what is driving healthcare trends or what they can do about it. It’s important to be aware that the hallmarks of a successful business are innovation, efficiency, productivity, and less waste. These are the same objectives of the healthcare sector by bringing robust data for companies to build new insights, translate them into actionable points, and drive meaningful and profitable results.
By working together, creating a high-quality, accessible, and affordable healthcare system is easier to achieve a healthier workforce and a stronger economy.