Spreading the Word on Incentives and Extending Consumer-Directed Health Plan Benefits

Summary: Rewarding members and employees for being savvy medical consumers and shopping is an increasing trend in healthcare, notes Sue Lewis, senior vice president of health and productivity solutions at IncentOne. Companies are leveraging the corporate Intranet, meetings and health fairs to spread the word on incentives to their populations. She has also observed that companies offering consumer-directed health plans are in the best position tax-wise to extend benefits to dependents and retirees. Gary Austin, a healthcare industry consultant on corporate/product strategy and program management, Linda Davis, a consultant to the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) in Minnesota,Lewis, and Mark Xistris, director of provider relations and health information for The Alliance, examined how their respective organizations are using these four strategies to stay competitive in the fast-growing consumer-driven movement during a May 30, 2007 audio conference, Value-Driven Healthcare in Action: A Four-Pronged Approach to Meet Consumer Transparency, Quality and Access Demands.