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February 13, 2020

Mercer Survey Finds Employees Value Health Navigation Tools

Digital health tools have already fundamentally transformed the way that healthcare is accessed, experienced, and delivered. Employers are increasingly investing in these solutions as they look for ways to reduce the growing burden of healthcare costs and cultivate a healthy, happy workforce, and employees are increasingly turning to them to help meet their health needs.

In fact, a new survey from Mercer confirms that worker demand for personalized health and wellness tools is only growing: 95 percent of employers surveyed believe that investment in health and wellbeing will be a priority in the future. Over the last decade at the forefront of the digital health revolution, Castlight has learned a lot about which solutions can actually meet this demand and improve employee satisfaction with their health benefits.

With so many choices for digital health solutions on the market, how can benefit decision makers know which will return the greatest value for their investment?

Among both the workers and senior decision makers surveyed by Mercer, the top-rated innovation in digital health was “an app that helps people find the right doctor or medical care when and where they need it.” Castlight does exactly that by leveraging machine learning to provide a health navigation platform that covers the full spectrum of care—from staying healthy to managing a condition or finding care. Users are guided to higher-quality, more affordable care options personalized to their unique needs, which drives engagement and delivers a better overall experience.

Some employers expressed concerns about data privacy and security as a reason they weren’t committed to investing in digital health tools. At the same time, most workers indicated that they would be willing to share their personal health information with a digital health solution if it would improve their care experience. Of the over 16,500 employees surveyed, 57 percent of respondents said they would share data to ensure the highest quality of care, while 46 percent said they would provide health information if they could receive services tailored to their personal health situation.

Castlight has invested heavily in a robust data infrastructure, including over 2.5 billion claims records, which fuels our personalization engine and enables us to anticipate where an individual is in their healthcare journey, how they are interacting with the benefits and programs offered by their employer, and perhaps most importantly, what kind of care they need. Our platform has achieved two HITRUST® certifications, so our users can be confident that their data is secure.

As the survey indicates, a personalized experience can help improve employee engagement by ensuring recommendations are relevant to their unique health situation and benefits package. When compared to self-reported program engagement rates for stand-alone point solutions, our Castlight Complete navigation platform achieved 1.4 to 2.4 times higher engagement among employer-offered health and wellness solutions.

Employers who are able to improve the healthcare experience for their employees are more likely to create a loyal workforce while reducing absenteeism and improving productivity. More than one in four U.S. workers indicated they would be less likely to change jobs if their current employer offered a digital health solution. While employers have an array of health and benefit programs available, it is important to ensure these solutions meet employees’ needs and preferences to deliver the desired impact on employee health and productivity. Increasing employee engagement with the right digital health solution will curb healthcare costs and help employees to live healthier, happier lives.

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