Employee Retention: Taking Care of Your Own

Employee Retention & Healthcare Advocacy

Employee recruitment is a daunting process for most employers. Once you’ve hired the best possible team members, you still have work to do in order to keep them on your team. Some industries face higher turnover rates than others, but no matter what type of organization you support, employee retention comes from taking care of your own.

The most significant employee retention tool you may have is your employee benefits package. So, employers must ask themselves, “Does our employee benefits plan make leaving a hard thing to do?”

Employees are looking to be taken care of, and it only makes sense that employees will be most productive when their needs are being met in terms of health and well-being. If you want to see high levels on employee engagement and retention, we recommend that our clients integrate a healthcare advocate into their employee benefits plan. Having the right mix of insurance coverage is certainly important. But even more critical is the proper usage of the benefits. A healthcare advocate provides your employee with a concierge service to ensure they feel equipped to manage their individual healthcare concerns.

When employees are provided with support to best manage their healthcare options, navigate the complexities of insurance, and utilize wellness programs, they have a sense of security, allowing them to focus on their work – not healthcare insurance.

Impact of Healthcare Advocacy on Employee Retention

Retention is a nuanced issue. Many factors, both inside and outside your organization, contribute to an employee’s decision to stay or go. Studies dating back 5-7 years have told us that employee retention is one of the highest priorities for HR leaders.

By providing a healthcare advocate to your employees, we have seen employers reporting strong results, for both them and their team members. Industry research is showing:

Clinical management with the support of a healthcare advocate positively impacts health outcomes.
Use of a healthcare advocate indicates a significantly lower medical cost per employee, lower than average market trends.
Employees feel well taken care of when an advocacy program is in place to deliver targeted support based on each employee’s specific needs.
Integration of healthcare advocacy drives positive clinical and financial outcomes.
Employees comply with recommended preventative care at a higher rate when working with a healthcare advocate.
Providing a healthcare advocate shows employees that their employer values their health and well-being.
ROI (return on investment) is high when adding a healthcare advocate; value goes beyond cost savings.
The value of a healthcare advocate can be linked to higher levels of employee engagement and employee retention.

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The healthcare system is fragmented; it’s complicated to navigate. Your employees may be scrambling to keep track of treatment plans, especially if they’re seeing multiple providers. Confusion about their insurance benefits can challenge even the most informed patients. Healthcare advocacy can play a vital role in easing the burden patients experience while navigating the system. Our clients tell us that providing a healthcare advocate to employees just makes sense.” Dennis Hartin, Hartin Dynamics

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What Employers Need to Know about Healthcare Advocates

Let’s face it, the system isn’t built to your advantage if you’re the employer. Sadly, employees also often experience that their healthcare and insurance providers systems are difficult to navigate. Critical illnesses or chronic conditions only add to the complexity. An independent healthcare advocate can be a life-saver – literally!

You’ve likely encountered patient navigators, case managers, or health advocates who work for the healthcare provider. Some also work for the insurance carrier. It’s important to keep those alignments in perspective.

Hartin Dynamics recommends that employers take command of outcomes for those using their benefits plan. This means having an independent healthcare advocate as part of your employee benefits program.

An independent healthcare advocate works for you – the employer. They will remove the burden of supporting employees away from your HR team, and over to a resource focused on outcomes that are good for you and good for your employees.

Think about the time and effort it takes to manage when these issues are heard from your employees:

I need help finding a doctor.

I don’t know if our policy covers my situation.

I think there is a mistake on my medical bill.

I can’t seem to get answers to my questions from the insurance company.

I need to take time off work to deal with my medical insurance problems.

Let’s Talk

We welcome your questions about how to add a healthcare advocate to your employee benefits strategy. This single change could mean big savings, and help you retain employees by giving them a resource who cares.