Benefit communications are often treated as a marketing task or a once-a-year open enrollment project. But for employers trying to get more value from healthcare spend, communication is a business lever.
“Strategic benefit communications help employers change behavior,” said Melissa Cotterill, executive vice president at Westcomm. “When employees understand how to use their benefits, employers can get more value from the programs they already fund.”
When employees do not understand their benefits, they may delay care, use the wrong care setting, miss preventive programs or overlook resources. These decisions can increase costs and limit the value of the benefits investment.
Clearer decisions at the right moments can affect cost, utilization and outcomes. Here are five benefit communications levers that can help employers improve the value of healthcare spend.
Five benefit communications levers that improve the value of healthcare spend
1. Improve plan and account decisions
Plan and account decisions shape how employees use their benefits all year. Clear communication helps employees choose coverage that better fits their expected care needs, which can reduce costly plan mismatches, avoidable confusion and decisions based only on premiums.
Help employees understand:
- How to compare premiums, deductibles, out-of-pocket costs and expected care needs
- How an HSA works, including eligible expenses, contribution decisions and tax advantages
- How employer contributions, matching funds or plan design affect the total value of each option
Further reading: What Effective Employee Benefits Communication Looks Like to Employees
2. Increase preventive care and early intervention
When employers communicate preventive care clearly and consistently, employees are more likely to schedule screenings, exams and checkups before symptoms appear — which may help identify health issues earlier, before they become more serious, disruptive and costly.
Help employees understand:
- Which preventive services are covered and why they matter
- When to schedule annual physicals, screenings, dental exams, vision exams or biometric screenings
- How to take the next step
3. Help employees choose the right place for care
The wrong care setting can turn a minor issue into a higher-cost claim. Communication should make the appropriate care path obvious before employees are sick, rushed or deciding where to take a family member. Clearer guidance can help reduce unnecessary ER use, out-of-network care and higher-cost decisions when lower-cost options are appropriate.
Help employees understand:
- When to use virtual care, urgent care, primary care, a nurse line or the ER
- How to find and verify in-network providers
- When a preferred provider or specialty partner should be the first step
Further reading: Why Employees Don’t Understand Their Benefits (and How Employers Can Fix It)
4. Drive use of high-value programs
Programs and resources have limited value if employees don’t know when or how to use them. Clear use cases and next steps can help employees access resources the employer already funds.
Higher utilization is not always an immediate cost reduction. In some cases, it is evidence that employees are accessing support earlier.
Help employees understand:
- When to use an EAP, care navigation, condition management or wellness resource
- What support is available for issues such as mental health, chronic conditions or complex diagnoses
- How to access each program
5. Reduce confusion before it becomes HR friction
Repeated questions to HR are a communication signal. If employees keep asking the same questions, missing the same steps or requesting benefits they already have, the communication strategy needs to address the source of confusion before it creates avoidable call volume and administrative strain.
Help employees understand:
- What benefits and resources are available
- What steps they need to take during enrollment or after a qualifying life event
- Where to find answers and when to contact HR for support
Further reading: When Should an Employer Hire a Benefit Communications Firm?
How to make these communication levers work
The five levers are only useful if employers know which behaviors they are trying to change and keep communicating long enough for employees to act.
Use data and metrics to decide where to focus
Start with the behavior you want to influence. Then, identify what employees need to understand or do. Finally, choose the metric that can show whether that behavior is moving in the right direction.
Data should show where communication needs to be adjusted to better meet employees’ needs. Claims data, utilization reports, employee surveys, HR questions and call volume can show gaps in benefit communications.
Sustain communication beyond open enrollment
Employees make healthcare decisions throughout the year, not only during open enrollment.
Employers need repeated, timely communication tied to the moments and life events when employees are likely to act: scheduling preventive care, having a baby or navigating a new diagnosis.
Further reading: How to Get More Value from Your Benefit Communication Dollars
Segment messages by audience need
A new parent, an employee managing a chronic condition or an employee choosing between plan options do not need the same message at the same time.
Use data to segment communications by factors such as age, salary, plan enrollment, current participation level or life events. When messages are more relevant to employees’ needs, they are easier to understand and more likely to prompt action.
Turn benefits strategy into employee action
Benefit communications improve the value of healthcare spend when they help employees make better decisions, use programs appropriately and understand what to do next.
If the communication challenge is tied to cost pressure, employee behavior, major plan changes or underused programs, employers may need more than internal bandwidth or vendor materials. That is when a strategic benefit communications partner can help.
“The question is not just whether employees opened a message. It’s what behavior we can change and what business impact we can support,” said Guy Westermeyer, president of Westcomm. “We are thinking on your behalf, identifying the problem and helping employees understand what to do next.”
Westcomm helps employers improve the value of their healthcare spend through strategic benefit communications that help employees understand and use their benefits more effectively.
Ready to get more value from your benefits investment? Schedule a call to uncover communication gaps, clarify opportunities and determine where a more strategic approach could help employees take the right next step.
