As we kick off another year, it’s time again for employers to brace themselves for the annual vendor parade of potential partners who promise to solve their health care challenges. Human Resources leaders face an unenviable task of vetting countless products, services and approaches in order to set the best plan in place for their people.
From health plan designs to provider networks to point solutions aimed at specific conditions, the pitches, proposals, RFP responses and finalists meetings seemingly are constant between now and open enrollment season. Meanwhile, these same executives have the rest of their daily responsibilities to manage as well.
If you are an HR leader who is navigating this reality, you likely are generating laundry lists of questions as you prepare to evaluate potential partners. For each opportunity, there is a lot of information you have to gather. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds and temporarily lose sight of what’s most important to you and your population as you make each decision.
In that spirit, we would like to propose four questions that you can ask yourself as you reflect on each decision you make. Together, they offer a filter, or a pressure test, for your toughest choices.
1. Are they listening? During the process, did the vendor stay present, attentive and curious? Did they demonstrate an understanding and empathy for what is most important to you? Did they ask the right questions? In their final recommendation, are they trying to help you solve problems, or are they just interested in selling products?
2. Are they ready for risk? Is this vendor proactively assuming the burden of risk and placing it squarely on their shoulders? Who is actually on the hook if things don’t go well, you or them? Are they demonstrating an ability to effusively manage the risk they are assuming?
3. Are they personalizing their approach? Are they offering a tailored strategy based on your specific needs, or trying to force square pegs into round holes with an off the shelf solution? Your population is unique. Does their approach accommodate for that?
4. Are they delivering the right value? Is the vendor providing clear and credible value? Are you being offered tangible discounts and savings up front, in addition to believable ROI projections based on a successful track record? Is their value proposition only financial, or can they point to other sources of value such as clinical quality or improvement in employee satisfaction, recruitment and retention? Is the value being promised aligned with the results that are most important to you? Is there a concrete connection between recommended strategies, value creation and outcomes measurement so that you can have confidence in reported results?
Decision Fatigue is Real
Obviously, these four domains are close to your heart as an HR leader. But information overload and decision fatigue are both very real. Our hope is this checklist can serve as a gentle reminder and as a prompt to refocus on the big picture when you feel you’re too wrapped up in the details.
You deserve to work with partners who will actively listen to your needs, assume risk and accountability for outcomes, customize their approach to address your unique situation and drive real value in the areas that are most important to you.
If you’d like to learn more about how Vanderbilt Health Employer Solutions lives up to this checklist, please contact us today. Our team is standing by to listen, collaborate and drive meaningful value for you.
