Data Insights: Three Trending Ideas for the New Year

We’re just a few steps into our 2024 journey and yet many of us are already setting our eyes on the path toward our 2025 benefits strategy. That’s crazy, right? But, we know that moving the needle on healthcare gets progressively more difficult - and more important - with each passing year. The older I get, the more I feel this on a personal level as well as on a community, corporate, and countrywide level.

The good news is that we are not passive passengers sailing healthcare’s turbulent seas. Together, we play an important role that collectively influences the health of millions of lives and billions of healthcare spend. So, in that spirit, informed by the patterns we have seen in the Artemis data cohort, here are three ideas to consider as you plot your path to success this year.

1. Healthcare Avoidants are your easiest opportunity to drive higher outcomes

Our data shows that ~15% of enrolled members do not have a medical visit or pharmacy prescription and that 80%+ of these members are in the bottom quartile of total comp. As Benjamin Franklin famously said, “An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure!” We can help you identify and quantify these potentially at-risk members so that you can run more targeted preventive care campaigns, address perceived cost barriers, and motivate healthy next steps.

2. Negotiating better unit cost pricing for selective pharmacy and medical services are the real opportunities to contain costs

Last year we saw specialty pharmacy account for just 1% of claims yet ~50% of our pharmacy spend. We know changing patient and provider behavior is hard, but we see clients finding success in targeted strategies that lower unit costs. Some are aggressively negotiating more favorable PBM pricing and contract terms for specialty drugs, or even sourcing certain drugs internationally. And, it is not just for specialty pharmacy. Some clients are implementing direct contract solutions that cut medical costs by as much as 30%.

3. Whole-person care is your call to action for a more productive workforce

Our book of business data shows that 70%+ of anxiety and depression episodes are attributed to younger demographics and that mental health visits increased 44% since 2019. Furthermore, our data shows that mental health (~58%) is the strongest use case for virtual care. Considering Millennials and Gen Z make up an increasing share of the US workforce, addressing mental health offers a unique opportunity to bring whole-person care to your members and help contribute to a more productive workforce.

If you wish to explore data-driven insights to take the best healthcare actions for your population, reach out at artemis@nomihealth.com.

We are here to help you navigate the healthcare headwinds as you set sail this year. Let Artemis help you get there — swiftly, safely, successfully.