Elevate 2022 | How Analytics are Boldly Reshaping Healthcare

6-8 minute read

After a long pause due to the pandemic, Artemis has brought back the exclusive, much-anticipated annual customer conference with this year’s Elevate 2022.

Nestled in the summery slopes of Snowbird, Utah, the three-day conference offered insights and ideas from healthcare innovators in tow with case studies, tips, and success stories presented by Artemis clients and partners.

Here’s a summary of the compelling conversations and key takeaways from the conference.

Sobering Statistics Call for an Industry Shakeup

As the first full day kicked off, staggering stats set the stage for the nation’s healthcare needs.

• 11.1% of individuals with mental illness in the United States are uninsured
• 38% of American adults are prediabetic
• 55% of Americans have medical debt totaling $195 Billion

With more Americans struggling with mental, physical, financial, and social well-being, industry leaders gathered to discuss how data is boldly shaping the future of healthcare.

In her keynote address, contributing Opinion Writer at The New York Times and Editor-In-Chief of Kaiser Health News, Doctor Elisabeth Rosenthal, presented her thoughts on the healthcare industry's challenges and opportunities for change.

As a former ER Doctor, Rosenthal experienced a shift in healthcare to a broken business model that rewarded quantity instead of quality. Dr. Rosenthal shared her eye-opening tales and price tags from her much more affordable personal healthcare treatments abroad, reinforcing her views of the economic dysfunction in the US medical market.

By participating in a “Hospital or Hotel game,” attendees guessed the setting of luxury images.  Rosenthal argued that one of the misconceptions in healthcare that is exacerbating unnecessary expenses is societal expectations unrelated to care. To showcase this point, Rosenthal shared a story of a New York educator whose routine treatment jumped to $110,000 per infusion because of a network change. Rosenthal reported that the only difference in the teacher’s treatment was complimentary cookies and “free” Wi-Fi at the new in-network treatment facility. From hospitals with state-of-the-art lobbies to munchies during medical procedures, Rosenthal posed the question, what is the true cost of “free”?  

Another way Dr. Rosenthal suggested taking back the broken healthcare system from big business is by employers engaging with employees and insurers. For example, HR leaders can teach employees not to sign admission forms agreeing to pay for services their insurance does not cover without adding “so long as it’s in my insurance network,” which can help them avoid unnecessary out-of-pocket and out-of-network expenses.

Rosenthal also presented that demanding accurate patient cost estimates, insisting on precise provider directories, and encouraging employees to work with a Primary Medical Doctor can protect patients from uncertainty and cut overall costs.

Custom Report Findings Help Support Unconventional Solutions

Client success stories shared at Elevate 2022 showed varying ways tailored data has empowered employers to meet their populations' unique needs.

Joe Toniolo, US Foods’ Senior Director of Benefits, presented several examples of how the Artemis Platform has steered decisions and supported the implementation of pioneering pilots within the company’s benefits ecosystem. Toniolo provided examples of ways US Foods is thinking outside the box to curb costs, emphasizing that companies need to try new ideas to make progress.

Mindi Craig and Laura Miolen of Shaw stressed the importance of working with the right partners to ensure their members have easy access to affordable, quality care. Craig and Miolen discussed how they used their data to understand the value of Shaw's clinics compared to other local centers to help justify an expansion of their Shaw Family Health Center clinic investment.

John Senay with Holman, the largest privately held vehicle fleet management company, emphasized the importance of having a strong “why” behind benefits strategies and presenting benefits programs as an investment instead of a cost. Senay spoke about Holman’s year-over-year experience with Artemis and how historical data is helping Holman to evaluate program performance and drive decisions within employee initiatives.

Advocate Aurora Health’s Benefits Senior Data Analyst Corey Williams underscored the importance of matching data methodologies. Williams spoke about his four-step process of using data to obtain meaningful insights.

1. Define a question or need.
2. Develop a strategy for analysis.
3. Identify ‘sources of truth’.
4. Measure performance and implement changes.

Client presentations and panels throughout Elevate 2022 illustrated how data utilization helps their companies’ dollars go further in caring for their workforce.

Drum Roll for New Roll Outs

Before breaking for outdoor adventures and s’mores roasting, attendees listened in as Artemis Co-founder and CEO, Grant Gordon and Nomi Health’s Co-founder and CEO, Mark Newman discussed how Nomi Health’s acquisition will only improve Artemis’ offerings.

As long-time business colleagues, Newman joked with Gordon that the process of combining both companies was almost like being friends with someone for a long time when it finally clicks that the two of you should be dating.

Mark slammed his convictions out of the park, summarizing that the healthcare industry cannot return to ‘normal’ because the system has always been broken. Nomi and Artemis are in the long game to fix the healthcare system, and Gordon and Newman expressed that their companies can reshape and rewire healthcare better and faster by teaming up.

Artemis Health, moving forward, is now Artemis by Nomi Health.

A demonstration of Artemis Console, a new point solution evaluation tool, showed the ease of measuring and managing point solution utilization and effectiveness for employee populations and their families. Taking the guesswork out of whether or not a point solution is delivering on the promise of better employee outcomes, Artemis Console aids HR and Benefits leaders in designing a comprehensive benefits package with trustworthy insights.

Making its big debut, Artemis’ new tool to simplify financial reporting for benefits brokers, Cost Advisor, was unveiled during the first full day of the conference. This new automated financial reporting solution provides seamless data reporting for fast, customized, comprehensive reports so brokers can easily manage their client’s medical budgets, forecast high-cost claimant expenses, and make informed decisions. Artemis Cost Advisor cuts down on tedious and repetitive financial reporting tasks, freeing up more time to advise clients with exceptional benefits recommendations.

Also introduced at the conference was a teaser for Ad Hoc Analytics. This custom tool allows customers to access their data with their own business intelligence tools for more flexible analysis. This will allow them to use data science modeling techniques to answer specific business questions to drive strategic change. Ad Hoc gives way to leveraging new data sources quickly and effectively so customers can identify key decisions in reporting and identify new actions to implement.

Celebrating Innovative Industry Leaders

Artemis announced two inaugural awards at this year’s conference to highlight employer clients who have taken insight-driven action and are leading the way in advancing analytic methods through partnering with Artemis.

Take Action Award Recipients

Companies Wayfair, Danaher, and Travelers were acknowledged for their strategic steps based on the insights gained from the Artemis platform.

• In the awards ceremony, Travelers’ Benefits Manager Greg Nelson was applauded for utilizing Artemis Matched Pair Cohorts capabilities to perform a benefits program evaluation for one of their point solutions.
• Awarded for leading a crucial data-driven discussion, Amanda Touati and Amy Broghammer were celebrated for their integral roles in Dahaner’s cancer-centered Health Summit. Equipped with Artemis analysis, Dahaner’s dynamic duo worked with their partners to identify tactics to improve member experience and mitigate costs.
• Amy Noelle, Head of Global Benefits & Wellness at Wayfair, has consistently used analytics in their wellness strategy to help inform their decisions with key focus areas of mental health, maternity, and musculoskeletal disorders.

Leading the Way Award Recipients

Recognized for their efforts in advancing analytic methods, Boeing, Pilot Flying J, and Google were awarded for their contributions to enhancing new content and furthering the development of Artemis’ platform.

• Tracy Yunker, over Boeing’s Total Rewards Delivery Core Operations, accepted the award in recognition of her’s and Linda Brady’s partnership with Artemis. Their guidance was indispensable during the development of the Integrated Absence dashboard and in their ACO reporting program.
• Diana Morgan with Pilot Flying J was awarded for participating in the alpha development cycle for Artemis Console. Pilot Flying J’s feedback and evaluation of their diabetes management program were instrumental in the development of the diabetes program analysis in Console.
• Garrett Maron of Google accepted the Leading the Way award on behalf of himself, Ashley Chandler, and Stephanie de Zarraga for Google’s partnership with Artemis to develop a trend decomposition analytic. This analysis breaks down the medical cost trend into components of enrollment, cost, utilization, and risk to better understand what is influencing trends.

Congratulations again to these employer clients, and a big thank you to all Artemis customers and partners that joined us for Elevate 2022.

Weren’t able to join us? FOMO no more. Check out the recordings of Elevate 2022 to get the full experience - minus the s’mores.