Employers are spending over $1.5 trillion per year on healthcare. But are you getting your fair share?

Many hospitals have acknowledged that they have critical customers—their physicians, patients and consumers. But, in many instances, we’ve paid employers and their employed lives far less attention than they deserve.

Even those hospitals that say they offer employer programs admit behind closed doors that they haven’t developed an overall employer strategy, haven’t dedicated the right resources to ensure success with the employer market and haven’t built out the programs to deliver the continuum employers are ready, willing and able to buy.

With double- and triple-digit increases in employee health insurance, employers are seeking ways to better manage employee health as a product and a benefit. Healthcare organizations that proactively develop long-term employer relationships will be positioned to capture all their business-related healthcare referrals and ensure that those insured lives are seeking their family healthcare from the same facility.

Keeping Employers’ Needs in Mind

Today’s employers have three top priorities: To increase affordability and access of healthcare to all employees in their organizations, to decrease costs and keep or increase benefits, and to increase employee retention and quality of life.

To do that, employers have specific expectations from their providers:

• A partner that works to understand their environment and provides services to enhance their business survival and success.
• Proactive management of costs and services for group and work health.
• Way to address prevention, wellness, education, care and disease management.
• Management of workers and their families for urgent and family health, even with reduced health plan coverage.
• Reports on trends, issues and savings.

Big requests? Not at all, given the pressures these customers are facing. It’s your job to step up and address their needs—and set yourself apart from others in your marketplace.

5 Steps You Can Take to Increase Your Share

1. Conduct a market assessment of your employers. Learn their needs and intent.

2. Assess your products and services available for employers. Enhance, differentiate and develop to match identified employer needs.

3. Ensure adequate organizational structure and support for long-term employer relationships.

• Hire a full-time dedicated sales staff
• Structure an operational service line staff focused on the employer market, offering corporate health, occupational and worker’s compensation and linkages to other services within the healthcare organization.
• Give administrative support for budget, staffing and value of employer market.
• Identify downstream revenue contributions that the program/employer customers provide.
• Use a database for tracking, measurement and reporting—internally on program results, externally for clients.

4. Ensure the ability to provide short-term transactional services (injury treatment and drug screens) alongside long-term services such as on-site physicians, nurses and rehabilitation, annual contracts for all healthcare needs and/or corporate health and wellness contracts.

5. Develop a sales plan with marketing messages to differentiate your approach and delivery to the employer and their employed lives.

Gaining employer business today requires being aware of opportunities and trends. Keep your eyes open, talk to the employers in your market about what they want and need and take the steps to provide focused solutions. Soon, you’ll be poised to get a larger piece of this pie!

Carolyn Merriman is president of Corporate Health Group, a national healthcare consulting firm, and is based in Rhode Island. For additional information, please call 1-888-334-2500 or contact us via the Web.

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