The words “innovation” and “disruption” seem to come up a lot these days, and with good reason. The benefits industry is experiencing a transformation unlike anything its seen before. 

Being a broker today is a challenge. Health care insurance laws are changing from one day to the next, employers are balking at rising costs, and employees are disgruntled and ready to jump ship.

Related: Is Uber the next health-care disruptor?

The silver lining is that all of these challenges create an opportunity for brokers to step in and provide solutions. 2018 is poised to be a year of major changes, and the best brokers will find themselves coming out on top.

To make sure you're not left behind, consider these 10 tips >>>

1. “Disruption is inevitable; it's your strategy and how well you prepare that helps mitigate that disruption.” —Jared Smith, Interactive Health, Inc.

2. “Chaos breeds opportunity. Many groups are begging for guidance. They don't want to get bad news every year. They are looking for cost containment and a more efficient way of doing things.” —Rachel Miner, Employee Benefit Advisors of the Carolinas, LLC

3. “Whether or not employers can see through the mediocre service they're getting from brokers, the system is still broken. It's on me to make sure I'm constantly sharing knowledge about how we can push the system to change.” —Cara Kirsch, SilverStone Group

4. “Differentiate yourself with a passion for creativity and reinventing the traditional approach. A progressive approach to designing, communicating and delivering benefit programs will allow you to deliver next-generation products, services and technology.” —Peter Marcia, YouDecide

5.  “AirBnb doesn't call themselves a 'tech' company, they just use technology to get stuff done. We need to stop with this fascination over technology in health care and understand the problems we're trying to solve.” —Andy Slavitt, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administrator

6. “Let's stop calling it insurtech—going digital is no longer an option for insurance carriers and distributors.” —Charlie Horn, Genius Avenue

7. “The digital health revolution has yet to be unleashed because the digital health care ecosystem is fractured and fragmented…Only if these innovations are easy to use and tied to the benefit packages most people get anyway, will they be used.” — Derek Newell, Jiff

8. “If you're not embracing change, creativity and innovation, you're not going to be around in 10 years. Innovation and creativity are the currency of the future.” —Mark Gaunya, Borislow insurance

9. “Being vigilant and taking advantage of change are key hallmarks of the successful. But recognizing a new force at work is only half the equation. The other half is successfully predicting when the time is right to make a move.” —Gil Lowerre and Bonnie Brazzell, Eastbridge Consulting

10. “The Internet of Things is impacting the very core of the insurance business, which is risk assessment and product. Products are telling a story which helps insurers better understand risk, allowing for a paradigm shift from risk classification to risk personalization.” —Subhobroto Ghosh, VirtusaPolaris