Most wellbeing vendors can show results. The question is whether they will show them for your people.
Every vendor has a success story from someone else’s population. We vet wellbeing and disease-management programs against your own data and workforce, and we say no to the ones that will not move the needle, even when they are easy to buy. Selection is one part of a health and cost strategy that measures every program against a baseline.
A program has to clear four tests before price is discussed.
We start from what your population health review found, not from the vendor’s category. A program that fails any of these tests is not a bargain at any price.
Does It Target Your Cost Driver?
A diabetes program is only useful if diabetes is driving your cost. We match each candidate to a specific finding, so nothing is bought because it was popular elsewhere. Matching programs to cost drivers is the first test of wellness vendor selection.
Can Your People Use It?
An app-only program will struggle with a workforce on the floor or on the road. We test the delivery model against how your employees actually work, because access decides engagement. Delivery fit decides wellbeing program engagement. Employees use what is easy to reach.
How Is Success Measured?
Vendors often report their own results using their own method. We agree on the measure and the baseline before contracting, so the outcome can be checked independently. Agreed measures make wellbeing program results verifiable. The baseline is set before the contract is signed.
Does It Overlap?
Carriers, pharmacy managers and existing vendors often include similar services already. We map what you already pay for, which can remove the need for a new contract. Mapping existing services can avoid a new wellbeing contract. You may already pay for it.
The costliest program is the one nobody measures and everybody renews.
Wellbeing contracts rarely fail loudly. They fade: engagement drops, reporting thins out, and the fee continues.
Self-Reported Savings
A vendor calculating its own savings against its own assumptions will usually find some. We ask how the comparison group was built, because that choice decides the answer. Independent measurement keeps wellbeing vendor claims honest. Ask how the comparison group was built.
Fees on Enrollment, Not Use
Paying per enrolled member rewards sign-ups, not outcomes. We push for fees tied to engagement or results where the vendor will accept them, so their incentive matches yours. Engagement-based fees align vendor incentives with results. Tie fees to engagement or results.
No Exit
Multi-year terms without performance standards leave you paying for a program that has stopped working. We negotiate guarantees and termination rights before signing, not after disappointment. Performance guarantees and exit rights protect wellbeing spending when a program stops delivering results.
Saying no is part of the service.
The value of vetting is as much in the programs you skip as in the one you choose.
Buy
When a program targets a real driver, fits how people work and accepts independent measurement, we recommend it and set the goals it will be judged against. Evidence-based selection makes wellbeing programs worth buying, and it sets the goals they will be judged against.
Use What You Have
When an existing carrier or pharmacy program covers the need, we activate it instead, which avoids a new fee and a new login for employees. Using existing programs saves money and simplifies benefits for employees who already have too many logins.
Wait
When the data does not support a program, we recommend waiting, so the budget is there when a real need appears. Waiting for the data protects the wellbeing budget until a program has a real need to solve. Budget waits for need.
What employers ask about choosing a wellbeing program.
Our carrier offers wellness credits. Should we use them?
Often, yes, as long as the credits fund something your population needs. We check what the credits can be spent on, because money tied to a carrier’s menu is not always money well spent. Carrier wellness credits work best when spent on real needs.
Do smaller employers need this?
A smaller group has less data, so we lean on plan design and existing programs first. A targeted vendor becomes worth it when a clear need shows up. Smaller employers can start with plan design and existing programs before buying a new wellbeing vendor.
Who manages the vendor once chosen?
We manage the vendors behind the program: reviewing reports, tracking agreed measures and raising problems early, so the program is judged on evidence at every renewal. Ongoing vendor management keeps wellbeing programs accountable and makes each renewal an evidence-based decision.
Send us your renewal.
We’ll tell you whether it looks competitive, where we see opportunity, and the five questions we’d put to your carrier. No cost, and no obligation to move anything.
The renewal letter
Your current plan summary
Contribution split by tier
Enrolled counts by tier
Four documents — two more if your group is 50 or more. Nothing else; every extra one is a reason to postpone.
An independent employee benefits consulting firm. We look at the entire benefits program — cost, plan performance, risk and administration.
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