Data Insights

February 11, 2025

In our February 2025 Innovation Showcase, we explored how employers are leveraging data to strengthen benefits strategies, drive internal decision-making, inform vendor selection and enhance vendor accountability. With ever-increasing amounts of data and quickly evolving technologies to interpret it, this is no easy task. Global benefits leaders from two innovative employers offered tangible approaches to analyzing and integrating data to drive better decisions.

According to Business Group on Health’s 2025 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey, nearly all large employers place high importance on accessible vendor claims data, transparency and the ability to integrate multiple data sources into measurable insights.¹ Among global employers, 31% identified improving data measurement of health initiatives as their second-highest priority for 2025, right after mental health, particularly as they pursue greater consistency across regions.¹ While most acknowledge this as a focus area, merging and interpreting multiple streams of disparate data is tremendously complex.

Throughout the Showcase, presenters demonstrated how thoughtfully organized data infrastructure and targeted analytics can transform large volumes of data into practical intelligence that can drive cost savings and enhance employee well-being.

Several key themes emerged from the discussion:

1 | Creating a unified data strategy is the foundation for informed benefits decisions

Fragmented data sources complicate analyses of which vendor program or benefit strategies genuinely work and which may be duplicative or ineffective. Showcase speakers shared their efforts to consolidate data spanning medical and pharmacy claims, well-being programs, provider quality and workforce data. One employer described how the company has more than 30 point solutions, causing low engagement and difficulty calculating any given solution’s return on investment. This situation prompted leaders to create a unified platform for benefits navigation, with consistent data measurement as a key focus throughout. After integrating everything into one system, the company could better determine which strategies were being meaningfully utilized and making an impact; this consolidation also made it easier for employees to navigate the many resources available to them.

2 | Holding vendors accountable by requiring data transparency and measurable outcomes

Data transparency continues to be a challenge, with many employers noting that inconsistent or incomplete vendor reporting makes it difficult for true performance comparisons – or coordination to benefit the end user – across solutions. Many employers have responded by building detailed data-sharing requirements, making them an important feature of RFP and related vendor procurement and renewal processes.

One employer shared how the company renegotiated agreements with vendors to require access to raw, de-identified data rather than pre-aggregated reports. Leaders used clear, objective metrics as the basis for renewal decisions or contract terminations, and this practice strengthened alignment among benefit teams, senior leadership and frontline management, ensuring that health strategies match broader business goals.

3 | Making data more actionable by clarifying reporting and governance

One employer speaker shared that without a clear governance structure, data can become overwhelming rather than actionable. This company implemented a cross-functional “product council” composed of HR, finance and well-being leaders to review key metrics for each vendor. Decisions on vendor contracting can then be made using useful data, taking into account all of these internal stakeholder perspectives. By leveraging multiple areas of internal expertise from those looking at data comprehensively, the company gained clarity on whether new and/or existing programs truly result in desired outcomes such as reduced health care costs or increased productivity. This process replaced this employer’s reliance on vendor-reported claims with objective internal metrics.

One employer's success in leveraging data creatively

Conclusion: The Future of Data in Benefits Strategy

Showcase participants agreed that success lies in transforming raw data into actionable insights. As employers pursue consistency across global operations and demand greater transparency from partners, robust data analytics will serve as a cornerstone for cost-saving interventions and enhanced employee well-being. By centralizing data, ensuring rigorous governance and broadening the scope of success metrics, organizations can better navigate rising expenses and deliver meaningful, personalized benefits for their workforce.

For access to a recording of the Showcase, please click here.

AI Use in Data Analytics: Where Employers Stand

Artificial intelligence, or AI, is increasingly being leveraged in health care administration and delivery. Recent survey results show that seven out of 10 large employers view AI as both promising and potentially concerning.¹ While 73% feel comfortable leveraging AI for data aggression and targeted communications, comfort levels drop for clinical applications—only 56% consider AI suitable for diagnostics and treatment.¹ These findings demonstrate that while many employers see AI as an essential tool for innovating benefits and optimizing costs, they also recognize the need for clear guardrails and robust data governance.

Related Business Group on Health Resources

REFERENCES

1 | Business Group on Health. 2025 Employer Health Care Strategy Survey. August 2024. https://www.businessgrouphealth.org/en/Resources/2025-Employer-Health-Care-Strategy-Survey-Intro. Accessed February 12, 2025.

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Innovation Showcase Recap: Leveraging Data to Drive Benefits Strategy