Insights from Personify Health’s Brass Tacks session at the Health Evolution Summit titled: “It’s Time to Tackle Waste. 3 Ways Technology Can Drive Down Waste in Employee Health Benefits & Improve Care”
At this year’s Health Evolution Summit, Personify Health brought together a powerhouse panel to tackle one of healthcare’s most expensive—and frustrating—problems: waste in employer-sponsored benefits.
The discussion featured:
- Chris Michalak, Executive Chairman of Personify Health
- Dan Mendelson, CEO of Morgan Health (JPMorgan Chase)
- Dan Shields, AVP at Ochsner Health
- Rena Freeman, Chief People Officer at AdventHealth
The panel zeroed in on the $36 billion elephant in the room: waste in employer-sponsored health benefits. Not over a year. Not a quarter. In just 30 days.
In this article, we’re breaking down the five biggest takeaways from that conversation, including what’s driving the waste and how employers are using technology to flip the script on cost, engagement, and employee healthcare experiences.
1. The cost of the status quo
If nothing changes, the system doesn’t just get more expensive. It breaks.
Shields put it plainly: “Every system has waste, but we need to get more efficient because… we don’t have any more bodies to throw at it.”
Mendelson added, “We’re probably going to see a 12 to 15% increase this year. And it’s driven by things like GLP-1s, new drugs, and, frankly, the time-honored tradition of just increasing cost for employers.”
The takeaway? The status quo won’t cut it.
2. The power of personalization
Solving this isn’t just about spending smarter—it’s about designing benefits that work for real people. That means ditching one-size-fits-all and getting precise.
Ochsner Health is putting this approach into action. At Ochsner, they leaned into value-based care out of necessity, not idealism. “Louisiana and Mississippi aren’t big commercial states,” said Shields. “We had to get smarter with what we had.”
Freeman shared how AdventHealth uses its own plan as a “learning lab.” One example: a narrow network plan in Florida with real incentives. “There are financial penalties if members don’t pick a PCP or see them by June 30,” she said. To support that? “We opened schedule capacity and enabled online booking through our app.”
That’s personalization with purpose: removing barriers and rewarding action.
3. When behavior change meets tech that gets it
Even the best-designed plan fails if people don’t use it. That’s where behavior meets technology—and where the right tools turn passive members into proactive participants.
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink,” said Shields.
That’s where Personify Health’s personalized health platform delivers. Users engage with it 19 times per month because it combines data from wearables, claims, psychometrics, and behavioral patterns to surface the holy grail in care delivery: the next best action.
The results? Not promises. Proof.
- 14% lower total healthcare costs
- 38% lower Rx spend
- 11% drop in inpatient utilization
- 21% higher preventive care engagement
4. Tech can’t fix what bad design breaks
We’ve talked about tech and behavior—now let’s add the third lever: benefit design. For change to stick, design has to support it.
Mendelson was clear: “There’s a third element, which is the benefit design… and if you integrate those three things, that tends to work very well to reinforce the behavioral change.”
JP Morgan’s approach? No co-pays for high-quality, low-cost providers. “That reinforces the behavior change,” he said.
And what about underserved populations?
“People think low-income populations don’t engage,” said Shields. “But we ran a Medicaid pilot and added 5,000 members in three months. They wanted to engage—they just hadn’t been given anything worth engaging with.”
Freeman added, “For our hourly workers, cost isn’t just the deductible. It’s the time off work. And if they miss a shift for a doctor’s visit, that hits hard. That’s why they go to the ER—for them, it’s a one-stop shop.”
To meet these employees where they are, AdventHealth is expanding urgent care, PCP+ services, and evening hours.
5. Don’t just collect data. Use it.
Meeting people’s needs isn’t just about access—it’s about insight. The data is there. What’s missing is action.
“Biometric screenings have been around forever,” said Shields. “But we used to just give people their numbers and say, ‘Go see your doctor.’ That’s not enough. We need to take that data and do something with it.”
That’s where AI can help.
“We’re using AI to predict CKD and flag the moment when a patient should be referred to dialysis before they crash in the ER,” said Freeman. Heart failure and hypertension are next.
But Mendelson added a caveat: “AI has to reduce cost trend. It can’t just make life better for providers or payers. Employers want ROI. And they want outcomes.”
From theory to transformation
Waste in healthcare isn’t just frustrating—it’s unsustainable. And for employers, the cost of doing nothing keeps rising.
But it doesn’t have to stay that way. As Morgan Health, Ochsner Health and AdventHealth have shown in this discussion, it’s possible to flip the script—on engagement, on experience, and on spend.
Ready to move from inspiration to action?
- Let’s talk brass tacks for your organization: Schedule a strategy session with one of our health and wellbeing experts today.
- Want to see the numbers? Explore the findings of three independent studies that show how Personify Health helps employers cut costs and improve outcomes — across care navigation, condition management, and payment integrity.
- Want to dig deeper into benefit design, behavior change, and tech that actually works? Check out this article to learn the 5 pillars of designing personalized health experiences that work.
