If your organization is considering adopting a CDHP, your employees’ curiosity has probably been piqued by a swirl of rumors. They have certainly heard that they could spend less on healthcare, become healthier, and even save for the future. Along with the good rumors, bad ones are sure to spread. They may have heard that they’ll spend more on healthcare with these types of health insurance plans, seek less preventive care, and forgo necessary medical care because they won’t want to spend the money in their healthcare account. These rumors aren’t true, but it takes a careful and well-planned communication and implementation plan to educate employees about the positive aspects of CDHPs. Change is difficult and most people resist it even when it’s beneficial—so don’t be surprised.

It’s your job to facilitate a plan that will help everyone at your organization become comfortable with the philosophy, mechanics, and language of the CDHP. This section will explain how to design an effective, personalized communication and education plan that will introduce your employees to the benefits of a CDHP. It will help you engage, educate, and empower your employees.

Education:

Preliminary educational meetings and focus groups will ensure that all employees have a basic understanding of the philosophy and mechanics of CDHPs relative to traditional managed care plans. Without these meetings, terms and concepts referred to will be foreign and employees may become overwhelmed. Introducing users to the basics gives them a chance to become familiar with the material before they have to make any decisions.

Support:

There’s only so much information that can be absorbed at once, so your employees are bound to have further questions after the initial educational meetings. An informed and supportive Benefits Advisor as well as in-house personnel trained to discuss concerns and provide further resources encourages employees to ask questions. You don’t want employees to give up out of frustration and decide to stay with their old plan. If people can pop in to a coworker’s office and get the information they need, they are more likely to follow up on their questions and concerns, and feel more comfortable.

CDHPCoach’s Storage Facility, where the Coach has organized and compiled a vast amount of tools and resources for you to access.

Housed here are key components and information within the book, Bend the Healthcare Trend which was the impetus behind the CDHPCoach.