Quick Summary: Traditional print communication remains the mainstay, but companies are leveraging their online portals to bolster the message of health and wellness. How can your company use your intranet to lower health care costs?
As more U.S. companies embrace health care consumerism to help stem rising costs, they are placing far more emphasis on employee education and the technologies that facilitate better employee decision making, according to experts and research from Watson Wyatt Worldwide.
A recent survey of more than 550 large employers by Watson Wyatt and the National Business Group on Health shows a sharp increase in the number of companies providing detailed information online to help employees become better health care consumers.
• 71% are providing information on specific health issues (up from 38% in 2003)
• 35% are providing information on providers and/or hospital quality (up from 16% in 2003)
“Not only are companies providing more health care information to workers, they are changing how they provide that information,” said Cathy Tripp, national practice leader for health and welfare technology at Watson Wyatt.
“While traditional print communication is still important, company portals have become the health care information hub for workers at many large employers. And these portals, especially when supported by useful tools, can be very effective. Workers who access health plan information from their employers’ intranets have a better understanding of health care costs and available services,” she said.
Watson Wyatt Worldwide is a human capital consulting firm. National Business Group on Health is a national nonprofit organization that represents the perspective of large employers and provides practical solutions to its members’ most important health care problems.
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