How To Turn Analytics Into Action with Care Navigation Solutions

For years, corporate wellness programs were sold on bold promises of outsized ROI—3:1, 4:1, even 5:1 returns driven by healthier lifestyles and chronic condition management.

The challenge with claiming lofty returns is that the numbers are speculative; assuming that the costly care would have occurred without intervention; or that the costly care did not occur as a result of a population health management program. 

Here is what we know: 

1. We can reduce the severity of chronic conditions 
2. The more complex and advanced the disease, the more expensive the treatment 
3. We can decrease the cost of care 
4. Recommend more conservative or alternative treatment options 
5. Steer to lower cost providers 

While cost containment remains a top priority for employers, today’s environment has fundamentally changed the playbook. With double-digit healthcare cost increases, economic uncertainty, and the 2025 Milliman Medical Index reporting that the cost of care for a family of four now exceeds $35,000 annually, nearly triple what it was twenty years ago, employers can no longer afford to wait for savings to materialize.

In 2026, benefits strategies that gain traction will be those more immediately tied to mitigating spend while supporting employees through mounting financial, physical, and mental health challenges. 

The Analytics

A comprehensive analytics approach is foundational to tackling population health risk and cost; however, statistics only describe the problem. Understanding health risk, opportunities to shift trend, and ability to prioritize action starts with: 

• Integration of multiple data sources such as medical claims, pharmacy data, and wellness program data 
• Predictive modeling and risk stratification to establish a business case for investment in intervention 
• Established population cohorts to benchmark and measure the impact of population health programs 

The problem? Most stop there. 

Taking Action

Data alone does not reduce costs, improve health, or change behavior. The real value is realized when insights are operationalized. While often targeted solutions are warranted to address top health risk and cost drivers, many employers cannot afford to implement multiple solutions. Programs aimed to modify lifestyle behaviors to better manage chronic conditions take time, and while long-term investments in chronic disease management and healthy behaviors still matter, employers are increasingly prioritizing solutions that deliver short-term, measurable impact.  

So what can employers do to avert unnecessary spending AND prioritize their people?  

Care Navigation services yield immediate hard-dollar savings and cater to the employee experience by modifying healthcare utilization, or changing the course of treatment while prioritizing cost and quality. 

In an era of constrained budgets, care navigation solutions are one of the greatest opportunities for small and midsize employers to extract more value from existing benefits and impact costs. Care Navigation reduces wasteful healthcare spending, improves engagement, helps employees navigate complex healthcare decisions, and maximizes the return on existing wellbeing investments.   

Care Navigation

These solutions come in multiple forms, but all with the same primary objective- driving smarter care decisions to preserve quality while lowering costs. Simple modifications, like guiding employees to independent imaging centers instead of hospital outpatient settings, results in very little inconvenience but significantly reduces employer spend and employee out-of-pocket costs. 

1. If budget is an issue, work with your OneDigital team to implement Plan Design changes to drive value-based care. 
2. If you are looking to implement a strategy that is more proactive, launch timely and personalized education to drive smarter healthcare choices.
3. Particularly for larger self-funded employers, a more sophisticated platform that offers clinical guidance might be the right fit. 

Looking ahead to 2026 employers that thrive will be those that balance cost containment with prioritizing the needs of their people, using data not as an endpoint but as a catalyst for smarter decisions, better engagement, and tangible results.

Turning analytics into action is how employers protect organizational sustainability while supporting the health, wellbeing, and livelihoods of their employees and families. 

For more on how to maximize your investments and support your people, read 25 Cost Containment Strategies for Healthcare, Pharmacy, and Workforce Optimization.