Case study Essilor of America

Essilor positioned Alight as the front door to its health plan so employees could make more proactive healthcare decisions. Most organizations underestimate the costs associated with employees going to the wrong doctor. Research suggests that when people find doctors through mediums like Google, Yelp and friends/family, they find doctors below the 50^th percentile who are associated with lower quality, expensive care. Essilor knew they needed to get employees to the right providers from the start.

From 2016 to 2018, they released a constant flow of information and communications going out to employees, but because of the employee demographic, the team realized that not everyone paid attention to email. Consequently, they developed creative means to reach employees and drive engagement, such as postcards with snapshots of relevant information. They also held different events throughout the year to promote participation, like hosting vendor integrations meetings.

Essilor made sure that employees could access the service in the most efficient ways possible, whether it be from a web-based platform or on a mobile device. They also ensured that all communications came directly from Kaylie, their Health Pro^© consultant, to make it easier to instantly reply or to dive right into the service for more detailed assistance or information.

With Alight as the front door to their health plan, Essilor maintained a consistent employee interface which enabled them to evolve their benefits strategy over time to meet the needs of their people. As Essilor slowly reached its goal of increasing participant participation, it focused on smaller goals as well, such as making sure employees received—at a minimum—an annual physical exam with a primary care doctor.

Looking back on data from 2016 to 2018, Essilor saw a steady increase in utilization year over year. In 2016, they provided almost 800 healthcare navigation solutions for employees. Meaning, their Alight Health Pro^© consultant was engaged 800 times that year and provided a solution to a problem or an answer to a healthcare related question. This number increased steadily over the years as utilization rates increased. As of 2019, Essilor has rolled out the Alight Healthcare Navigation Solutions program to its entire employee population; they are on trend to have around 1,900 solutions by year-end. As more solutions are being offered and utilized by employees, it translates to more employees getting the right information to make better decisions about healthcare.

Ryan Murry, Essilor’s Director of Compensation and Benefits, offers HR peers his most valuable tips when it comes to implementing a healthcare navigation solution.

1. Effectively communicate
   Essilor recognized that utilization would only be successful if employees were aware and informed. Constant, tailored communications that meet people where they are ensure employees are being reached in most effective way. This allows them to best understand and take advantage of relevant programs and services.
2. Recognize that adoption doesn’t happen overnight
   Successfully transitioning to a healthcare navigation tool isn’t instantaneous. Putting in the effort and partnering with a flexible solution, such as Alight Navigator, and other vendors provide convenient, assorted solutions to employees. Implementation should be a focused effort with clear goals.
3. Get people to the right providers from the start
   To improve the health of your people and control plan costs, you must get people to engage at the right point in time with the right provider—a provider that will not only deliver a great care experience, but also likely lower costs for your people and the plan.