Health care plays a complicated role in our country and even more complex roles in our workplaces. Privatized health care makes health care inequities commonplace, and often an individual’s ability to access quality health care is directly tied to their socioeconomic status. Employers have been stepping in for centuries to offer their American employees access to health care. But how can employers further level the playing field for their employees to ensure that they all have access to quality care?

Dr. Anupam Goel, Senior Medical Director at Accolade, spoke on this topic during a From Day One webinar. Joined by Katie Blakemore, Marketing and Events Manager at Accolade, Goel discussed how employers can reduce health care barriers with or without the help of Accolade.

Accolade is a personalized health and benefits solution that can dramatically improve the experience, outcomes, and cost of health care for employers, health plans, and their members. Compassionate advisors, clinical experts, and intelligent technologies allow Accolade to engage individuals and families at every stage of health care. Health care advocates help individuals understand their health holistically and make choices that fit their life and circumstances.

Health care can be a considerable driver in talent acquisition, as job seekers look for employers committed to providing the benefits they care about most. In 2023, this means not only offering a good insurance plan but also helping employees overcome health care barriers.

Health Care Inequities vs. Disparities

To understand what it means to provide greater access to health care, it’s important first to understand common barriers to health care. Goel explains that health inequities are the differences people might experience when interacting with the health care system based on characteristics that have nothing to do with their health, such as race, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and geography. 

These health care inequities can then lead to health care delivery differences, leading to health care disparities. 

For example, a person who doesn’t own a car might not be able to access the same providers as someone with a car. A patient with a lower income might not be able to afford all the medications their provider prescribes them. Or, a health care provider might treat a patient differently than others based on their sexuality. Ultimately, employers cannot tackle these challenges independently; they’re deeply rooted in our economy, society, and health care systems. But Accolade has some ways to help. 

“At Accolade, we’re very excited about providing people with options. So you might say, ‘I just know these doctors in my neighborhood. Accolade, can you help me find other providers who might look like me, sound like me, or come from a place where I’m from, so that a better connection with my health care provider might make a difference in my long term care?’”

To help address barriers to health care, Goel recommends these three steps to employers:
• Use a health benefits strategy that actually improves engagement
• Offer services that address access issues and experience challenges
• Provide health care solutions that treat employees like individuals

Let’s break down these three action items and how they can help employers with talent acquisition and retention.

Use a Health Benefits Strategy That Improves Engagement

Educating employees about the benefits available to them and how they can use them can help employees’ overall health and wellness. There are several ways to improve engagement with your health benefits strategy. Employers can remind their teams of the telehealth and mental health resources available to them, advertise their wellness programs, and publicly announce any new changes to the program. 

One way to help improve engagement with your health benefits strategy is to offer advocates through a program like Accolade. Advocates help individuals understand their symptoms and their providers’ treatment plans. Having a conversation with a trusted person (other than a doctor) who understands the nature of their benefits, copays, and coinsurance can help employees make more informed choices around their health care.

“We find that to be very powerful, because in many ways, health care is so complex and so challenging. All the nuances about coinsurance, copay, and prior authorization can be very confusing,” Goel said.

Offer Services That Address Access Issues and Experience Challenges

Goel’s second recommendation is to offer health care services that address your employees’ access issues and experience challenges. One of the best ways to address access issues is to provide telehealth services. Employers can check their telehealth service offerings with their health insurance providers. They can also partner with an additional service to provide their employees with more options. 

“I don’t think it’s going to be any employer’s individual job to get doctors to get back on telemedicine. Having said that, there are large companies across the country with nationwide networks to provide you access to telehealth no matter where you are,” Goel shared. “And no matter what time of the day it is. So we think that’s a real opportunity.”

In addition to telehealth services, Goel recommends offering access to second-opinion services or centers of excellence. Second-opinion services allow employees to get a second opinion regarding a diagnosis or health care decision without seeking an entirely new provider.

Meanwhile, centers of excellence are medical programs accredited to treat complex medical conditions while meeting the most rigorous quality, safety, and patient experience standards. They can help employees with a diverse range of needs.

Some people also avoid health care owing to poor experiences or lack of access to doctors who match their demographics. While employers cannot necessarily do anything to change how many health care professionals, they can help their employees locate professional and responsible providers and increase access.

“I think it’d be very difficult for any employer, on their own, to push for doctors or nurses to become more equitable in their interactions with patients. But as an employer, I think the first thing you can do is make a strong push around access,” Goel said. “Can I get members access remotely to services that they need? Can I give them mental health support?”

Goel also recommends employers survey their employees about providers who went above and beyond in their care and make a list of providers to recommend to employees in the future. Then, you can use this list when renegotiating your health insurance plan by proposing a special payment system for those providers. 

“Money talks, and if a group of providers are identified by employees as providing superior service, we should acknowledge that and make a difference in how we pay for it,” Goel said.

Provide Health Care Solutions That Treat Employees Like Individuals

Treating employees like individuals shouldn’t be groundbreaking, but the status quo has long been to see them as statistics, especially regarding health care benefits. Treating employees like humans with individual needs — rather than providing a cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all solution — can help acquisition and retention.

“We really take this to heart at Accolade. We think of you as more than a total of your insurance claims and all of that. We can figure out what the most important thing to you is by actually having a conversation,” Goel said. “Maybe smoking cessation is not the most important thing to you right now; maybe it’s just getting your medications paid.”

Treating employees as individual humans can also help your company own up to its mission statement and core beliefs. Goel acknowledges that not every HR employee has the power to completely overhaul their company’s health care plans, especially when working with a limited budget. But putting time and money toward health care, even in small ways, can help signal your company’s values.

Goel recommends asking, “If we are a company that cares about equality, and we say in our mission statement that it’s part of what we believe in, what does that look like? And how can we make that more possible?”

A common misconception is that more complex or individualized health care has to be more expensive. This is not always the case, Goel says.

“More complex does not necessarily equal more expensive,” he shared. “Advocacy might help our employees understand their health care better than if they were just seeing doctors month to month or whenever they have to go in.”

Ultimately, offering employees health care solutions that work for them can be worth every penny you put into it, especially when employees feel invested in, cared about, and supported.

“We like to think that everyone deserves someone to support them,” Goel said. “Our teams are happy to do that work. And we’re proud to say that we think advocacy is a part of every American’s right as a health care user.”

Editor's note: From Day One thanks our partner, Accolade, for sponsoring this webinar.

Erika Riley is a Maryland-based freelance writer.