Crighton and other members of the medical director advisory council of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions discussed the "Top Five Employer Health Leadership Priorities" in an April 14 webinar. The alliance's Dr. Scott Conard and Michael Thompson led a discussion of the five priorities.

How does leading with passion and purpose improve trust, performance and health and well-being? About 80% of worker health and well-being is not related to health issues but corporate culture, Conard said.

"There has been a change of mindset within organizations, in shifting from one where cost management is first and foremost," Thompson said. "What we are hearing about more and more is improving a `firms of endearment' mindset. These are the companies that outperform, not just with their employees but on the stock market. They are the companies we all admire and want to work for, and that attract and retain disproportionately high talent."

One aspect of this approach is to view employees holistically, Dr. Jan Berger said. "We as human beings do not segment ourselves, whether it is in the health care world or in our real world," she said. "We need to be looked as a whole human beings, not just as the piece of the elephant that we touch."

How can we improve mental health and well-being for the long term? "There has never been more focus by corporations on mental health than during the past couple of years during the pandemic," Thompson said. "Going forward, the No. 1 strategy employers have right now is improving access to mental health services in multiple complementary ways. Well-being and mental health are totally intertwined. Access is a completely different question and one that we know we have to double down on moving forward."

As Conard added, "Everybody is racing to try to find a way to bring appropriate mental health benefits to bear for employees and family members."

How can value-based benefit design drive health equity through an understanding of health determinants? "There are people who have different demands and pressures within their worlds that we haven't always been sensitive to or aware of," Thompson said. "The question becomes how you keep it simple so people can understand it and engage when needed but not get entrapped into doing more. More is not better medical care; better is better medical care."

How does innovation in health care delivery strategies improve health, equity and value? Health care delivery will be an increasingly important component of improving value in the system. As an indication of the scale of the challenge,physician Ray Fabius pointed out that between 20% and 40% of covered employees have no relationship with a primary care provider.

"These are people who are medically homeless," he said. "As a consequence, they get significantly worse care when they are sick, and they are remarkably more expensive to you. One of the great efforts you can engage in right away is eliminating the medically homeless."

How does overcoming benefits fragmentation (point solutions) improve employee engagement? Sifting through the ever-increasing number of point solutions to design an integrated strategy is a daunting task.

"They should be integrated, complementary and mutually supportive," Dr. Wayne Rawlins said. "If you build a car with the engine of a Porsche, the suspension of a Range Rover and the body style of a Ferrari, you don't get a great car. You actually get Frankenstein's monster. It's important to make sure solutions work together to optimize outcomes."

Although there are no simple answers to these questions, wrestling with them can help employers deliver better care and value. "What are the current trends driving the reevaluation of employee health, how well aligned are your current benefits with these trends and where are the gaps that need to be considered to bring them into the strategic as well as the tactical conversation?" Conard asked.

Physician executives can help in this process. "We know health care is one of the most highly regarded benefits, especially during the Great Resignation," Berger said. "I see the physician executive as a bridge builder, and it's been shown time and time again that organizations that use us in that way get the greatest benefit."

Read more: 

• 5 health and wellness trends likely to affect employers in coming year
• How large employers are upping benefits to stave off the Great Resignation
• The missing piece in achieving better employee health and well-being