Staff Writer

Apr 05, 2019 | 12:11 PM EST 

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We take a look at Castlight Health’s latest report on the state of employee benefits personalization and how AI will drive the future of benefits management.

Employers are seeking to make more data-driven employee benefits decisions. That’s according to Castlight Health’s latest report,  Employer Perspectives of Personalization in Digital Health, which found that employers strongly believe that personalization has the ability to significantly impact employers and employees.

As consumers become more accustomed to personalization everywhere – right from their Netflix recommendations to ATM kiosks, they have come to expect the same level of personalization in the workplace as well. And employee benefits are no exception.

What’s Keeping Employers from Personalizing Their Benefits Offerings?

While artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics have transformed several business functions rapidly, organizations are at a data disadvantage when it comes to their benefits offerings. Maeve O’Meara, Executive Vice President of Product and Customer Experience at Castlight believes that employers typically work with limited data-sources which keeps them from unleashing the true power of benefits personalization.

“Our survey of employers with the National Business Group on Health (NBGH) found that most organizations are eager to take advantage of the technological advances that enable benefits personalization. But, an employer’s ability to personalize benefits and recommend them to employees is only as good as the data they use to inform those recommendations,” says Maeve. “Our report found that employers today are leveraging some data, such as medical claims and biometrics screenings, to drive personalization -- but powerful data sources remain largely untapped. Delivering on the promise of benefits personalization requires employers to collect additional data from disparate sources such as third-party apps, user preferences, and user behavior, as well as the ability to synthesize that data into timely, granular recommendations.”

The report that focuses on large employers, found that a majority of employers (71 percent) offer little or no personalization to employees when it comes to matching the right benefits/resources to employees’ needs. When asked how they would grade their organization’s current benefits personalization efforts, none of the employers awarded themselves an A grade. “Our survey of the nation’s largest employers found that they widely recognize the power of personalization to positively impact employees, but most believe they are not tapping into its full potential. As well as quantifying that gap, the survey highlighted several opportunities to improve benefits programs through personalization,” says Maeve.

How AI Can Help Drive Benefits Personalization

With high-deductible health plans (HDHP), open enrollment, and 401(k)s benefits offerings still being viewed as complicated and difficult to understand by employees, employers need to deploy the right tools to offer personalization. In the candidate-driven jobs landscape today, personalized benefits offerings are a part of employers’ overall competitive advantage. “With employers facing increasing pressure to attract and retain talent, offering a personalized, engaging, and consumer-grade benefits experience is a key competitive advantage. We have seen from other industries -- from entertainment to shopping -- that technology-driven, personalized services drive deeper consumer engagement and satisfaction than the one-size-fits-all status quo. The same is true in health benefits: by connecting employees with the right benefits and resources for them as an individual, we see greater employee engagement with -- and satisfaction in – benefits,” opines Maeve.

The report classifies personalization data sources into Mature (eligibility file and claims data), Crossover (health risk assessments and biometric screenings), and Nascent (in-app questions, third-party apps, and search data/history). AI-powered benefits solutions that draw on all three data-sources are crucial to delivering a personalized benefits experience. With the right data sets, AI can help employees make educated benefits choices that are relevant to them and their individual needs. Once organizations have a unified view of all data, AI can provide personalized nudges to inspire better benefits utilization.

Conclusion

All indicators point to AI driving the future of benefits administration. “It’s clear employers recognize the promise of digital health benefits, as they continue to invest in solutions that empower employees to access care, manage conditions, and stay healthy. Now, employers are seeking ways to drive greater value in their existing digital health investments.

“One of the key levers to do so is through benefits personalization. Our recent report identified three innovations employers can take advantage of to improve benefit personalization going forward: increased data liquidity creates the opportunity to incorporate broader data sources; advances in machine learning enable more granular segmentation in communicating with employees, and applying personalization across disparate programs enables employees to understand and connect with the right resource at the right time,” says Maeve.

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Source: HR Technologist

https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/benefits-administration/why-ai-is-the-future-of-benefits-personalization/