10 Benefits Buzzwords to Know for 2023
Published January 4, 2023
With the social and cultural fallout of the last few years, employee needs have evolved at a scorching pace. And that, friends, means we have a swarm of new benefits buzzwords to contend with. We could easily have included another hundred words in this list, but we didn’t want you to quietly (or quickly) quit reading.
Here are 10 essential terms to get you up to speed.
1.
Point solution
A digital healthcare answer to a single healthcare problem, as in, “We’re rolling out a new mental health point solution that connects employees to online therapists.”
Point solutions can deliver both outcomes and ease to employees, but managing them can feel like death by a thousand e-paper cuts. If only your health plan could integrate point solutions for you.
2.
Full-stack solution
In some ways, this is the opposite of a world rooted in point solutions. Rather than scattered, fragmented providers and services, full stack uses a technology backbone to tie everything together into one integrated product or service.
It can remove friction, make care more efficient, and allow for intelligent innovation. Plus, it offers employees and employers one clear destination for the support they need.
3.
Quick quitting
When someone leaves a job within a year — for higher pay, more flexibility, healthier culture — they’re quick quitting. Closely related: quiet quitting. A rejection of the hustle. A firm commitment to do the job and no more.
Why all the quitting? Could be pay. Or shifting life priorities. Or burnout. And recession fears may dampen both trends. Here’s what is clear. Not to get all love languages on you, but employees expect to feel valued — and their benefits need to make them feel that way.
4.
Asynchronous care
Synchronous care, like video visits, happen in real time. When there’s no immediate response — texting, sharing MRI data, AI bots — that’s asynchronous. It’s not right for everything, but it’s an incredibly useful tool that benefits patients and doctors alike.
Patients get care with no scheduling, no waiting. Doctors get structured data that takes 3 minutes to assess instead of 20, enabling them practice at the top of their license. Efficiency, more care options, higher satisfaction — all good things for employees.
5.
Recession proof
Employee expectations have risen (see quick quitting), but budgets might be shrinking. As recession chatter increases — will it happen, when, how bad might it get — brace yourself for a surge of alleged “recession-proof” solutions.
Our advice? Resist the temptation to slash and burn benefits spending. Start with a deep understanding of what really matters to your employees and invest in solutions that help you stay nimble and optimize what you already have in place.
6.
Goal-oriented care
Our healthcare system is problem-oriented, designed to address disease. In contrast, goal-oriented care sees patients as partners and focuses on their needs and desires.
This drives a more integrated approach that addresses physical, mental, and social health by situating care in the context of a patient’s life, not merely their symptoms. Coincidentally (or maybe not), it aligns with whole person care and increased attention on mental health.
7.
Radical flexibility
The enlightened state you reach after 3 pandemic-filled years of 10-minute chair yoga with your dog napping next to your remote-schooling kids who are all, naturally, under your desk.
It’s also the idea that employees decide where, when, and how to work. And it matters in the battle for retention. If you have a 2-hour commute and get a job offer that allows remote work, how long do you have to think about that choice?
8.
Payvider
Sounds made up, but we assure you it’s very real. It’s a mashup of payer and provider. By controlling more levers in the system, the trend promises to deliver more cost-effective care with better outcomes. Full disclosure: we should know, we’re a payvider ourselves.
9.
Hybrid care
Mix the best of in-person and virtual care and voila, hybrid care. You don’t have to squint to see the very real, very rich potential for more effective, accessible, and affordable healthcare with these models. In fact, you could talk to us about it right now.
Closely related: virtual-first care. Care starts virtually and moves to in-person as needed.
10.
Anti-perks
Benefits that seem great and you expect employees to love, but that they find borderline (at best) harmful. Example? Unlimited PTO. Terrific in theory but without a culture that actively supports using it, employees feel guilty and trapped.
The fact that this buzzword even exists suggests a disconnect between employees and benefit teams. Or at the very least, a significant disruption in values and an understandable lag in meeting new priorities.
What’s it all mean?
If there’s a throughline in these terms, it’s this: people are questioning very fundamental principles about how we work and live. You may be one of them, making your job even more complicated. It all puts an incredible strain on employers, especially benefits managers and leaders.
So here’s a throughline for solutions: keep the concept of whole health in mind. It’s another buzzword, but the concept has been here all along. We’re just learning to see it. Every benefit impacts employee health in some way, whether physical, mental, or social.
Choose benefits partners who understand that, who offer not just a service or product, but a way of seeing the world and preparing for what lies ahead.