As health care spending sky rockets, the buzz of implementingwellness programs is becominglouder. Employers want to control health care spending, see higherproductivity rates, and increase employee satisfaction whilestruggling to find the right program. I’ve heard their statementsmany times “We are still trying to figure it out,” and “people arenot engaged.”

More and more companies are looking for new and better wellnessprograms and most of them are looking to a benefit broker for this.Wellness programs are one of the most important tools that abenefit broker uses to advise their client on health care benefitsand controlling health care spending. A benefit broker should knowtheir client’s specific wellness demographics when it comes toevaluating and offering them wellness strategies that deliverresults.

Companies are relying on benefit brokers to recommendand even implement wellness programs and find the right vendor forthem. There are many great and, frankly, some not so great wellnessprograms out there.

Not all of them are appropriate or effective for every company’sunique employee population. Knowing the client’s population’s makeup and likely health risks can help a broker determine the rightwellness plan for a company and their employees.

Today’s availability of wellness-based applications providestools to reveal patterns and objective evaluations to assistclients in realizing their wellness vision and goals (not just thesubjective “program of the day” approach). To achieve this processa broker will need:

1. A data driven wellness platform that offers choice and housesall the vendor’s wellness, claim, and HR data. This will providethe needed insights and criteria for an optimally designed wellnessplan;

2. A 360 analysis tool along with a solid process and managementsupport to align the goals and objectives of the company.

Based on the process above, a broker will have preciseinformation for what is needed to achieve the goals of the clientand, most importantly, establish criteria a vendor must meet incontributing to wellness effectiveness. The best decisions are madewhen clients have the clarity and insights needed for choosing theright wellness programs orvendor.

“Data talks” and it will tell you when to improve the wellnessprogram or if a new program is needed. This data drivenapproach is the cornerstone of a wellness platform approach, asopposed to a mix of programs available from ad hoc programselection or a portal type method of combined programs with littleor no flexibility or program options.

We live in a time of information. It is part of our daily livesand necessary for making decisions that look to achieve objectives.With the platform approach clients will keep their historical datain one place even when the program vendor changes and the brokerwill always have a roadmap to meet their client’s wellness goals.This works out for both the client and the broker.

Without having meaningful analysis of their client’s populationand employment characteristics, many brokers choose the easiersolution by defaulting to a set of standard wellness programsbundled by portal vendors.

Given the extended contracts required for a portal vendor andthe lack of a 360 analysis embedded in the wellness solution, thedirty little secret is that many companies are dissatisfied withwellness outcomes, while many more are unaware of the effectivenessor impact of their wellness programs.

The platform-based model provides the data and transparency tovendor practices and outcomes enabling improved choice and options.Given the cost and increasing importance of wellness as part of theemployee benefit mix, it’s time to take a data science basedapproach to wellness.

A data driven wellness platform with program choice is the besttool a benefit broker can offer their clients to differentiatethemselves, improve client outcomes, and establish long termrelationships based on sound wellness planning andimplementation.

The platform model offers the insight and flexibility to assessand engage vendors who provide programs that best fit the client’semployee population needs. Since transparency and vendor choice isinherent in the platform model, a client can change program vendorswhen they need to and savvy brokers will recognize the value thatcompetition ignites in supporting effective wellness strategiesreflecting desired outcome.

This aligns with the original goals of most wellnessinitiatives: controlling health care spending, improvingproductivity, increasing employee satisfaction, and a betterquality of life.

In conclusion, a wellness platform gives brokers the opportunityto present their clients with access to the best and mostappropriate programs that fit their needs. Information, insight,and choice in one centralized, wellness rich application.

A platform is a simplified approach to their population’s healthmanagement. It maintains the long-term vison that offers theclarity required to make smart business choices when implementingan effective program.

Sam Salbi is the CEO of FitLyfe Wellness. Mr. Salbi’sapproach focuses on health outcomes and the return on investmentfor well-designed wellness initiatives.