I Think I’ve Figured Out Why It’s So Hard to Really Treat Employees Like They’re Your Most Valuable Asset

Part 1 of a series on Change Management in Health Benefits

Even if they think they do, most employers don’t truly act on the phrase “employees are your most valuable asset” because they aren’t actually aware of what their employees want most. For example, some CEOs assume they need to offer higher salaries and more vacation days to demonstrate their understanding of the sentiment, when in reality, employees care more about something that’s not quite as glamorous.

What employees really want is better health benefits. And no, giving them that isn’t as simple as tacking on an expensive and ineffective workplace wellness program.

One irony is that despite being in an organization of under 10 people, my benefits package is better than when I was at Microsoft during their heyday, when I didn’t pay a dime for anything. Why? Back then, Microsoft didn’t guide me to high-value, unconflicted primary care. I, their employee, was left to figure it out on my own.

Like most people, I wasn’t aware of how the big health system in town was—and is—a haven for overtreatment that puts people in harm’s way. Having had significant back issues myself, I’ve learned that going to the wrong specialist is a real risk factor. Now, I have a primary care doctor who will only guide me to a high-value medical center that won’t perform unnecessary, inefficient procedures such as the well-regarded Virginia Mason Medical Center, which realized that 90% of their spinal procedures didn’t help and that physical therapy would have been more beneficial.

Designing health plans that cover providers like these comes with challenges, but the rewards are immense. Doing so starts with employers switching from a fully-insured plan purchased from a mainstream insurance carrier to a self-insured plan where they directly pay for their employees’ medical expenses (the fact is they were already pre-paying for care but also a boatload of bureaucracy). However, even when self-insured, most employers still make the mistake of thinking that that’s the end of the story; they continue to use the same carrier-provided tools that have created some of the lowest Net Promoter Scores—measures of customer satisfaction—in any industry. These status quo approaches have put employees in harm’s way medically and financially, and they still persist today.

When wise employers shed old-line approaches and craft plans centered around value-based primary care—where physicians are paid for positive outcomes as opposed to being paid for every service or test they administer (fee-for-service care)—they can see tremendous improvements in employee satisfaction and a 20% or more reduction in healthcare costs. Forward-looking employers are reinvesting those previously squandered dollars, what we call the Health Rosetta Dividend, into what truly drives health outcomes.

Image Credit: Cascadia Capital LLC

This approach keeps employees happy and healthy; allows employers to invest in the local community or grow their business; and also solves a multitude of other public health issues like the opioid crisis. And yet, despite these many benefits, there’s still an abundance of employers who haven’t made the switch.

I understand that there’s comfort in the status quo, even if we know deep down that it isn’t the best and that there’s better out there. It’s basic human nature to be fearful of the great unknown and not want to take on the work that usually accompanies change. Still, this isn’t a good enough justification for avoiding it. Change is necessary for any organization to thrive, and we should never settle for something that’s “just OK,” especially where lives are concerned.

The good news is that I’ve seen the light at the end of the tunnel. I know that change can happen because I’ve worked with employers who have wisely chosen the road less traveled and sincerely proved that their employees are their most valuable asset. (It also doesn’t hurt to mention that their businesses are excelling as a result.)

The even better news is that I’m confident other employers can get there, too, provided they have the right approach to leading change. Once they do, they’ll never look back. 

So, for those employers/CEOs out there who are currently struggling with the decision to either renew an expensive status quo health plan or take matters into their own hands, I’m here to tell you that you can and should do the latter. You won’t have to go it alone either. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be walking employers through the steps they need to take to execute positive and productive change.

This post is the first of a multi-part series that I will be publishing. During this time, I invite and encourage you to share your own experiences and ask questions either by commenting on these posts or sending me a direct message. Revolutionizing our current healthcare system so that it works well for all of us is a grassroots effort requiring significant teamwork, and I look forward to seeing how we come together to do just that.

Additional resources:

• Case study on growth in enterprise value due to wise health benefits plan
• Chapter from Wake-up Call book: You run a healthcare business whether you like it or not (PDF) - Note IBM story of how they gained competitive advantage through investment in mental health and primary care to enable a high-performance workforce
• Calculator to see how much a company would have to increase sales revenue to have the same profit impact as wise health benefits strategies -- www.healthrosetta.org/cfo

Next in the series:

Part 2: Creating a Sense of Urgency — Why Change Now?

Part 3: How Great Leaders Inspire Action: Developing a Vision for Better Benefits

Part 4: To Ensure Benefits Success, Grassroots Support is Vital

Part 5: Sustain Change and Encourage Progress Using Short-Term Wins

Part 6: Be on the Lookout for these Barriers to Change

Part 7: Step by Step: Breaking Down Change Barriers

Part 8: 100 Voices > 1: The Absolute Necessity of More Communication Than You Think You Need

Part 9: Consolidate Improvements and Build on Gains

Part 10: Anchoring Change into Culture

__________

Dave Chase is the co-founder of the Health Rosetta (a LEED-like organization for healthcare), and author of the book, “The Opioid Crisis Wake-up Call: Health Care is Stealing the American Dream. Here's How We Take it Back.” Follow the link to the book for a free download of the book. Chase's TEDx talk was entitled "Healthcare stole the American Dream -- here's how we take it back." See the Health Rosetta website for how to get involved, resources and how to join others to support its mission.

Subscribe to the Health Rosetta newsletter to help transform healthcare and to stay ahead of healthcare changes. Follow Dave on Twitter

Click for information on speaking engagements.