The status-quo health caresupply chain is pretty straightforward: Patients go in for aconsultation, visit a specialist, get treated, attend follow-upappointments, and get a post-care referral. (Photo: GettyImages)

Health care plans are consistently rising in cost whiledecreasing in quality, and businesses and workers alike are feelingthe impact. Benefits advisors are looking for ways to combat thistrend, and one of the most effective ways they can do so is bymanaging the health care supply chain.

The concept of a supply chain is present in virtually everyindustry, but it's often ignored in health care. The overall ideais the same, but instead of focusing on sourcing, production,storage, and transportation of goods, the health care supply chaincenters around the choices involved in the diagnosis, treatment,and recovery of a patient. By taking control of the health careprocess from start to finish, your advisor can give your employeesbetter quality care and more options while creating savings foreveryone involved.

Reduced costs for you and your employees

Premiums rise every year, and both you and your employees arestuck paying the hefty price. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation(KFF) revealed some alarming numbers in their 2017 Employer Health Benefits survey:

• The average annual premium is $6,690 for single coverage and$18,764 for family coverage.
• Single-coverage costs rose 4 percent and family-coverage costsrose 3 percent from 2016 to 2017.
• The average employee pays $1,213 for single coverage and $5,714for family coverage every year.

Managing the health care supply chain from beginning to end is arelatively simple way to mitigate these costs. For example, it'scommonplace for insurance companies to send patients to hospitalsfor any type of surgery. But the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)reports that knee arthroscopy patients could save almost $1,300 inout-of-pocket costs if they choose to get their procedure done atan outpatient surgery center instead, and if you're self-fundingyour employees' coverage, you could save up to $5,100 as well.

Personalized health care options

The status-quo health care supply chain is prettystraightforward: Patients go in for a consultation, visit aspecialist, get treated, attend follow-up appointments, and get apost-care referral. While the steps in this process don't vary toodrastically on a case-by-case basis, managing the health caresupply chain can give you and your employees more options todevelop a health care strategy that works best for everyoneinvolved.

This expansion of choice begins from the moment your employeestarts to feel unwell. If they decide they don't want to spend thetime traveling to their nearest primary care physician's office,they can opt for a digital consultation in their own home, whichnot only provides more convenience, but can also offer an averagesavings of $126 per visit, according to research by Red QuillConsulting.

Health care supply chain management also enables you to workwith your employees to find treatment options that satisfy both ofyou. For example, your advisor might suggest recommending a lessexpensive (but equal quality) treatment center to your employeethat happens to be a bit farther away than the one closest to theirhome. In exchange for their willingness to travel, you might offerto cover their co-pay. Methods like this give you the potential tosave money while giving your employees more control over theirhealth care choices.

Equal or better quality care

More expensive benefits aren't always better benefits. A2013 study by the National Center forBiotechnology Information (NCBI) found only a "small to moderate"association between health care cost and quality, and many optionsthat can be offered through managing the health care supply chaincan give your employees the same quality care for less.

In fact, the most expensive and invasive steps of the healthcare supply chain aren't always necessary in the first place — astudy by USA Today revealed that between 10 and20 percent of all surgeries may actually be unnecessary, withcardiac procedures, spine and knee surgeries, and hysterectomiesbeing some of the most common operations that are performed "moreoften than needed."

If your employee has a knee problem, the status-quo health careprocess might see them undergoing a painful, expensive, andinvasive surgery that could keep them out of work and foreverimpact their quality of life. But a good benefits advisor willexplore other options, like physical therapy, that might eliminatethe need for surgery altogether, solving your employee's ailmentwithout all the downfalls that accompany the more drasticalternative.

More choices, more savings

Supply chain management is often an unexplored option in thehealth care industry, but working with an advisor who knows how todo it can make your company's benefits plan unbeatable. Thesavings, options, and care quality that can come from managing thebenefits supply chain can give so much more to your business than astatus-quo benefits plan, and your happier, healthier employeeswill also feel the difference.

Jim Blachek flipped his traditionalbrokerage model in 2017 to focus solely on consulting and buildingvalue based health plans. In 2019 he co-founded a consulting onlyfirm Dynamic Benefit Solutions and founded LocalScript a transparent pharmacy and marketing organization focused onreducing employer and employee costs while supporting the localcommunity.

Read more: 

• The GM-UAW strike can teach us a thing or two abouthealth care
• How to incentivize your employees to makecost-effective health care choices
• 4 major trends in health benefits plandesign