New analytic application offers new insights to employers on their health benefits

A new analytic application from Thomson Reuters and HighRoads gives large employers new insights into how the design of their health benefits influence employees’ health care choices — and health care costs. HighRoads is an industry leader in employer health care database and benefits management, and Thomson Reuters is a leading provider of decision-support solutions for employers and other health care payers. The two firms will integrate Thomson Reuters information on employee contributions and plan designs into The Lab®, HighRoads’ real-time benefits database covering over 30 million lives.

“For the first time, the health care industry will have a more complete source of current health care data from both the plan design and cost perspective, coming at a time when the national spotlight is laser focused on health care reform”

“This solution also delivers strategic intelligence,” said Jon Newpol, executive vice president for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters. “It can provide our customers with information on the latest advances in health benefit design so they can consider them as they prepare for the coming year.”

“For the first time, the health care industry will have a more complete source of current health care data from both the plan design and cost perspective, coming at a time when the national spotlight is laser focused on health care reform,” says Lori Dustin, Chief Marketing Officer, HighRoads.

As a result of the partnership, Thomson Reuters and HighRoads will be able to provide their Fortune 1000 clients with insights into the effect of health care plan design on costs. Thomson Reuters will be able to offer the industry’s only proprietary, real-time plan design database – consisting of 8,500 plans – via HighRoads’ The Lab. This new capability will enhance the value that larger employers already receive through Advantage Suite, the Thomson Reuters health care decision support system. If, for example, a company’s workforce has a low rate of compliance for a preventive treatment — mammograms, for instance — the application can determine whether it’s due to the company providing lower-than-average insurance coverage for preventive care.