2021 Benefits Survey of Hospitals.
Accelerated hiring, shifts in strategic benefits and workforce wellbeing are priorities within the ongoing response to COVID-19.
A(nother) survey launched in the middle of a global pandemic.
Health systems have had to be nimble among changing circumstances as the knock-on effects of the pandemic continue, according to Aon’s 16th annual Benefits Survey of Hospitals. The survey compiles results of participating benefit plans for more than 2.4 million health system employees representing more than 1,150 hospitals across the U.S.
What Strategies Are Key for U.S. Hospitals?
Read the 2021 Report
In order to support their organizations' long-term business performance, Human Resources leaders are looking first and foremost to ensure they attract and retain the right talent while effectively managing costs.
Attract and retain the right talent
Cost management and/or reduction
Develop talent
Improve workforce wellbeing
Improve patient/consumer focused solutions
% of respondents who rated each strategy as “high” impact
93%
Attract and retain the right talent
89%
Cost management and/or reduction
86%
Develop talent
85%
Improve patient/consumer focused solutions
77%
Improve workforce wellbeing
Three-quarters of hospitals are hiring.
COVID-19 has placed unique demands on hospital employee populations and on hospital budgets. Amid those demands, 40 percent of facilities are accelerating hiring, while 36 percent are hiring at a normal rate. The other 24 percent are being cautious, delaying or issuing a hiring freeze.
Are hospitals Hiring?
Value-Based Care– a business model and a benefits strategy.
More organizations are employing physicians directly, leading to more integrated approaches in health plan network design. While adoption of value-based care models in plan design is in the early stages, it is one way healthcare executives can align business objectives with benefits strategy.
36%
33%
19%
Have a strategy, but have not made plan changes
Did not identify, or are unsure of, their organization's value-based care strategy
Have no value-based care strategy
Value-Based Care Strategies
40%
36%
21%
1%
2%
% by enrollment
% by plan
% of hospitals with plans
Health Plan Prevalence in: Hospitals, Plans, Enrollees
More than half of all plans that are offered steer members to domestic services.
While only a tiny minority of hospitals offer “domestic only” plans, a growing majority of plans steer participants through plan design to domestic services. More than 70 percent of the 2.4 million employees represented in the survey are enrolled in this type of plan, and more than 80 percent of hospitals offer at least one plan with some domestic steerage.
Domestic Only
Steerage Plans
No-Steerage Plans
10%
4%
11%
% by enrollment
% by plan
"Low" Deductible
81%
59%
71%
% of hospitals with plans
High Deductible
% of hospitals with plans
% by enrollment
% by plan
38%
15%
12%
"Low" Deductible
% of hospitals with plans
% by plan
% by enrollment
22%
16%
5%
High Deductible
% of hospitals with plans
% by enrollment
% by plan
18%
6%
1%
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40%
Accelerated hiring to meet surging demand
36%
Normal hiring
21%
Cautious hiring, possibly for key roles only
2%
Hiring Freeze
1%
Delayed hiring
Networks continue to narrow.
Fewer employee plan choices are becoming more common. Over half of the survey respondents are offering only one or two health plans to their workforce.
How many plans do health systems offer?
46%
Offer two health plans
24%
Offer three health plans
22%
Offer four or more health plans
Offer only one health plan
8%
Executive Summary Findings.
Download an excerpt of the full report to learn more about the future of healthcare.
Download Executive Summary Findings
Participating in the 2022 survey entitles respondents to the full report, as well as competitive benchmarking information from their peer group. There is no cost to participate.
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Wellbeing programs are seen as a vital piece of employee retention and satisfaction. But are they utilized?
Of the respondents who track engagement with wellbeing programs, just under half report high or very high engagement. Similarly, in programs with a wellbeing incentive or requirement, just under half of eligible employees earn the incentive.
Attract and retain the right talent
Cost management and/or reduction
Develop talent
Improve patient/consumer focused solutions
Improve workforce wellbeing
Who is participating in wellbeing programs?
Very low: 0-20%
Low: 21-40%
Moderate: 41-60%
28%
12%
16%
High: 61-80%
Very high: 81-100%
24%
20%
5%
30%
20%
25%
20%
(Systems with incentives only)
How rich are wellbeing incentives?
Roughly half of wellbeing incentives include spouses as an option or requirement.
Under $100 per year
$100-$499 per year
$500-$999 per year
$1,000-$2,000 per year
Employee incentives
19%
37%
37%
7%
Spouse incentives
4%
11%
19%
11%
Combined incentives
4%
7%
19%
% are of all respondents, not just those with spousal incentives: e.g., 11% of participants offer a spousal incentive of $1,000 to $2,000
Have identified a value-based care strategy, and are modifying their employee health plan design accordingly
12%
How high is wellbeing program participation?
What percent of eligible employees earn the wellbeing incentive?
Health system with this participation
Very low
Low
Moderate
High
Very high
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