In defense of point solutions: why consolidation in employee benefits benefits no one

Large employers are now spending millions a year on wellbeing benefits, yet the latest polls show that less than a quarter of U.S. employees believe their organization cares about their overall wellbeing. 

Driving this disconnect is the fact that employers are electing to work with a smaller selection of vendors that offer a wider range of capabilities. However, these “one-size-fits-all” programs tend to fit none. 

While fatigue surrounding the growing industry of “point solutions” — specialized health offerings for specific subgroups of employees — has contributed to this shift toward consolidation, the unique value of these offerings shouldn’t be overlooked. Neglecting the nuanced needs of your population in favor of a more general approach not only waters down the employee experience, but also diminishes the financial impact of these programs. 

Rather than giving up on point solutions, now is the time for employers and their advisors to double down and invest in the solutions that meet the needs of their organizations. Here’s why. 

Blanket solutions can be “one-size-fits-none”

Common lore in Silicon Valley is to build for a specific user, providing a “10X” better experience to solve their specific pain points and needs. Yet that line of thinking has taken longer to translate into health care, due to the fact that the buyer is rarely the end user.

On the contrary, some of the most popular wellbeing offerings aim to serve the greatest number of employees, lacking a specific target end user altogether. The more people you can serve with one solution, the more inclusive you’re being, the healthier the workforce, thus reducing overall health care costs for the organization. 

Related: How to increase benefits ROI during open enrollment

However, blanket wellbeing solutions (often packaged into “wellness” programs) can be problematic: By trying to help everyone, they end up supporting no one. Consequently, wellness programs now have a bad reputation for low utilization and return on investment. It’s unrealistic to invest in a separate program for every individual; however, by understanding your client’s specific employee population, you can choose solutions that are the best fit for their needs. 

For example, if you’re working with an employer in the health care or education industries, it’s likely they have a disproportionately female population. Since women are three times more likely than men to be diagnosed with autoimmune disease, and twice as likely to receive an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) diagnosis, it makes sense to provide employees with access to solutions that address these specific health issues. Employers should collaborate with brokers and benefits consultants to identify trends or themes in the employee base and work with them to understand how it might differ from their other clients.

When employers know the unique needs of their population and offer tailored solutions, employees are far more likely to actually take advantage of and benefit from them.

Expansive solutions are less likely to move the needle on outcomes and savings 

Wellness solutions often get a bad rap for not delivering financial impact, but it’s not entirely surprising: These offerings tend to be broad and typically attract the healthiest employees, who don’t need these types of programs in the first place. 

Offering tailored solutions focused on supporting more complex patients, who are the most expensive, can lead to greater return on investment. 

There are a number of digital health solutions that have demonstrated impact for both the employee and employer in high-cost areas like cardiology, musculoskeletal and diabetes management. For example, Quit Genius, a program focused on smoking cessation, has demonstrated a 3.2X claims-validated return on investment in the first year. Other companies like Sword Health guarantee organizations $2 in savings for every $1 spent on their program.

In the case of autoimmune disease, these employees are among the most expensive in terms of health care costs, driven by high-cost specialty medications, days of work missed, and loss of productivity due to pain, depression and fatigue. 

We’ve seen that by personalizing treatment in a way that considers full health history, unique lifestyle triggers, the emotional burden of misdiagnosis, and even childhood trauma, it’s possible to save over $10,000 annually for patients taking biologics (the pharmaceuticals most often prescribed to this patient population). 

Digital point solutions are well-positioned in the move towards value-based contracting to improve costs and quality. Don’t be afraid to hold your point solutions to performance guarantees — it’s on us to prove our value. 

Broad health solutions exclude minority employees who are often left behind

Point solutions can fill the gaps of employers’ existing offerings and make sure that their best talent doesn’t fall through the cracks.

This is especially important for women and minority employees, who are more likely to be impacted by a number of health conditions and are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed — the psychological toll of which adds to the burden of living with a debilitating chronic illness.

For example, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune condition that affects women three times more than men, and often begins at a point in their careers when women should be moving into senior leadership roles. Within ten years of initial symptoms, half of rheumatoid arthritis patients leave the workforce for good. By investing in solutions that support these employees, you’re proactively creating more opportunities for women to rise the leadership ranks. 

Point solutions can drive positive financial outcomes

It’s important to take a holistic approach to identifying the biggest gaps in your clients’ benefits offering. Pair a claims data analysis along with qualitative surveys to employees to understand where the greatest needs lie. Stay curious and look for outlier patterns — for example, autoimmune disease tends to fly under the radar not only in the claims spend but also in the workplace due to the invisibility and stigma associated with these illnesses.

Once they’ve identified the gaps, employers should lean on trusted resources to wade through the growing number of point solutions. Brokers and benefits consultants — this is your opportunity to shine: with the proliferation of digital health companies, you can help your clients break through the noise and identify and vet which offerings are the right fit for their population.

Remember: what’s good for employees’ health is also what’s good for your bottom line, and benefits are only beneficial if employees actually use them. By delivering a benefits offering that’s tailored to your unique population, your investment should pay dividends, rather than incur additional costs.

Ellen Rudolph is the CEO and Co-Founder of WellTheory.