As a nurse, my passion and purpose have always been to make healthcare more accessible and improve the overall health of the communities I serve. And I know social determinants of health (SDoH) are crucial for a person’s well-being. I’m always looking at what support system does a person have? Do they have access to adequate food? Transportation? To improve the health of an individual or community, we must look at these factors.
Twenty percent of healthcare costs are clinical or medical services, and the other 80 percent is around the community. I have been thrilled to see more health plans embracing social determinants of health (SDoH) and creating community-based programs that address these factors.
And at work, we are all part of a community. In addition to focusing on members’ health, as employers, health plans should prioritize their employees’ health and well-being. Health plans must consider how to make employees’ work purposeful, meaningful, and engaging.
Focusing on your employees’ well-being and creating a sense of purpose and connection is not only good for their overall health, but it’s also good for the business.
Suppose employees are not passionate about what they do or don’t think their job delivers meaningful value to an organization. In that case, it’s much more challenging to wake up every day and be purposeful about their work. There is a link between meaningful work and professional effectiveness that drives success for the entire organization.
When it comes to successful innovation in health plans, technology is the enabler, but people are drivers. Often, implementing the technology is not what causes delays; it’s getting people to adopt and use it.
An organization can invest in a technology solution, but without a purpose-driven goal, why would the employees take time to learn a new tool, configure it, and begin using it in a way that transforms the business? The health plan must provide context to how each employee is valuable and their experience and insight play an essential role in transforming the organization.
To make real change, there must be buy-in and collaboration amongst an entire organization. Employees must know how they fit into the big picture and their purpose. For health plans that focus on creating a strong community that supports employee well-being will drive business transformation.