Human Resources Issues for Senior Management
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/699912
10/CANADIAN HR STRATEGY munication is de nitely required, says Conway. "But I have not found that transition to be a dif cult one for employees. We recently engaged in discussions around phar- macy networks. We're looking for more innovative ways to do that, and what other employers are doing. With bene ts, it's one of those areas where, at least for us, it's a key part of the total rewards package. We need to be competitive; we want to pro- vide our employees with what is needed, which can be dif cult given that spectrum," she says. There has de nitely been a shift in the communication ele- ments, says Clarke. "There's certainly general education you want your employees to have around their plan and what they can do to keep the cost under control and so on. But we're moving to- wards more just-in-time or as-needed communication. So you don't need every employee in your organization to understand your prior authorization program and every aspect of it. What you need is when someone needs to go through the prior au- thorization program, they get the information they need so they can go through it in a quick and effective and painless manner." Employees in general are far more aware than they were 20 years ago of the need to take charge of their own health, whether that's through exercise, diet or even quitting smoking, says Clarke. "(We've) seen a societal shift to individual responsibility around their health more so than in the past. So when you see employer plans really try to support that desire from their CANADIAN EMPLOYERS TEND TO RESIST RETAIL PHARMACY NETWORKS. geographically expansive that getting a network that will cover everybody's locale is very dif cult." Subsequent entry biologics (SEBs) are another newer option that sounds promising — but how much might they actually save employers? "It's still early days. It doesn't fall into the same pricing realm as it stands today. We're seeing prices come 16 to 50 per cent lower for the few SEBs that have come to market," says Goela. There are a couple different issues with SEBs, says Clarke. "One is: Are physicians going to start prescribing the SEBs? We've seen that with the couple that are on the market now, that there's virtually no usage of them. Without the ability to do a generic-type substitution, what is the take-up of SEBs going to be?" he says. Kyte was somewhat more optimistic. "I'm speaking as a clinician. I rmly believe that the SEBs, there is de nitely a hope for savings there. Health Canada has not become comfortable with the level of interchangeability between the SEBs and the regular drugs. I think, as time goes on, that level of comfort will rise as well," he says. "The ability to interchange them at different levels may also help for savings opportunities. But it is early days." EMPLOYEE CONSIDERATIONS Employers are increasingly looking at what the right amount of money is to be spending on this, says Clarke. "What is the right cost? (It's about) balancing what employ- ees want with what employees need. There are a number of things that have worked their way into our medical and health- care plans over the years which are really cash ow expenses: vision care plans; some of the things that are much lower cost, predictable expenses, dental recalls. There are a lot of things that are in the plan today that really don't provide insurance protection, they provide cash ow management. Those are the things that employees see every day and they really want be- cause they're front and centre," he says. "Then, there's the side of what they actually need, the cover- age for catastrophic drugs." It's important that employers carry out regular reviews of what's being spent, says Jeannine Quinn, regional HR director, Canada operations, at Bridgestone Canada in Mississauga, Ont. "Our bene t contract renews every year so we always look at it. And we rely heavily on our consultant also to say, 'Here's what's new, here are the trends, here's what we're seeing.' We use our data from the insurer to say, 'What are we seeing in that? Are we doing the right things? Should we revamp the pro- gram?'" she says. "And communication is key to all of that. You can't over-com- municate to people on those things because they're going to hear different pieces of it, maybe not the full story. So, as an employer, you've got to do a really good job at making sure they understand and simplifying that information." When it comes to changes to employee bene ts, good com-