Asking a vendor about theirengagement is likely already part of your evaluation, but push yourvendors to have a conversation beyond how many times a monthsomeone engages with the solution. (Photo: Shutterstock)

As you start to think about what benefit programs you willengage with next year, there's one question that you should ask allof your potential vendors: what's the quality of yourengagement? Asking about the quality of their engagement willprovide valuable insight into understanding how they categorize,value, and measure engagement.

But what is quality engagement and why is it important? Qualityengagement goes beyond “does someone use the solution?” and divesinto how the solution engages and interacts with members. Ask yourvendors: what does engagement consist of, how is engagementmeasured, and what is the impact of engagement?

What does engagement consist of?

Asking a vendor about their engagement is likely already part ofyour evaluation, but push your vendors to have a conversationbeyond how many times a month someone engages with the solution.What does engagement look like to the vendor and what does a memberdo when they engage? Is a member providing data or receivinginformation — or both? What type of data is a member providing? Howmuch content do they have and how much time does someone spend inthe content?

Related: 3 questions to ask when assessing wellnessvendors

Asking and understanding how a vendor categorizes engagementwill help you better understand if it's a good fit for yourpopulation. Additionally, ask if the solution is personalized andinteractive, as that drives deeper engagement that will more likelyresult in behavior change and better health outcomes.

You can also go a step beyond and try the solution yourself. Ialways recommend that someone use any solution for at least a weekbefore signing a contract. That way you can answer the questionsyourself — was it a solution that you wanted to use every day andhow much time did you spend inputting data or engaging with thecontent?

How is engagement measured?

Now that you know how a vendor defines engagement, ask them howthey measure it. What do they consider good engagement vs badengagement? How many members are using their solution? Are they awinning consumer platform? Solutions that have more than a millionusers are able to provide deeper, more accurate engagement metricsthan those who have smaller user populations.

For example, a solution that works for a smaller population mayengage certain demographics really well, but until you're able totest and measure engagement at a much larger scale, you can't drawstrong conclusions about how the solution would work with your ownpopulation. Understanding how a vendor measures engagement will bekey in identifying a successful benefits program.

What is the impact of engagement?

It can be great if a member engages, and uses the solution foran hour a day, but what does the engagement result in? Does theengagement result in sustained behavior change? One of the biggestchallenges for health promotion programs is demonstrating andensuring the adoption of new behaviors. If a benefit solution doesnot specifically target behavior change, there will be minimalimpact and certainly no return on investment. Ask your potentialvendor if the solution impacts the overall health and wellness of aperson for years to come or just triages a current issue.

Be sure to have a clear understanding of how engagementtranslates into outcomes, and don't be afraid to dive into theclinical outcomes of the solution and find out if it has beentested through scientific research. To ensure that the outcomes areclinically validated, find a solution with at least one peerreviewed study and look for a robust clinical department. Lastly,ask the vendor to review your claims data before you engage toreceive a clear analysis showing the potential impact on yourpopulation.

Though engagement is likely already a big part of yourevaluation process when finding a new solution for your population,you need to make sure the vendor provides quality engagement.Understanding what engagement consists of, how is engagementmeasured, and what is the impact of engagement will give you thebest look into how the solution will benefit your members' overallhealth and help you reach your HR goals.

Paris Wallace is CEO and co-founder ofOviaHealth, a leading maternity and family benefitsprovider for employers and health plans. Prior to Ovia Health,Paris founded Good Start Genetics, a genomics technology companyfocused on fertility and reproductive health, which was acquired byInvitae. Paris holds a bachelor's degree from Amherst College, andan M.B.A. and M.P.A from Harvard University.

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