At a time when workplace distraction and stress have never been a greater impediment to productivity, it would be ideal to have a resource that could help employees deal with specific issues that may be holding them back in work or personal areas.

Magellan’s Wellbeing Coaching targets problem areas for employees and helps them achieve resolutions that clear the way for improved performance.

Workplace inattention

60% of employees can’t go 30 minutes without getting distracted (Fortune 2024) and employees lose over 5 work hours per week thinking about stressors (American Psychological Association).

What is Wellbeing Coaching?

This service, part of Magellan’s Employee Assistance Solution, helps employees and their family members focus on and manage challenging issues, build their resilience and thrive in all aspects of their lives.

Each Magellan Wellbeing Coach is a board certified coach (BCC) through Center for Credentialing & Education (CCE), and receive continual training and supervision to improve their skills and areas of expertise.

How does it work?

In confidential sessions conducted by phone or video, Wellbeing Coaches engage employees by listening and using motivational interviewing to help them clarify their goals and objectives, identify their relevant strengths and recognize potential roadblocks to goal attainment. Coaching sessions are typically 50 minutes long and scheduled based on the employee’s needs, with 30-minute follow up sessions usually once every two weeks.

Wellbeing Coaches assist employees in developing customized plans to achieve their goals via a strengths-based approach, building on the positive inner resources of an individual to make changes. Employees are encouraged to take an active role in managing their wellbeing through making behavioral changes and being accountable for their progress.

Providing a different perspective

We’re often consumed by our own opinions, life experiences and way of thinking. A coach can provide a new and often helpful perspective on things (INLP Center).

How does Wellbeing Coaching benefit employers?

Wellbeing Coaching motivates and empowers employees to take action to feel fulfilled in all aspects of their lives. When they focus on wellbeing in one area, other areas naturally improve, and employees experience increased confidence, engagement and loyalty. This supports a healthier, more present workforce.

Proven results

Magellan Healthcare members report a 96% overall satisfaction rating. The 4.8-out-of-5 rating includes Overall Service Quality, Achieving Goals, Coach Helpfulness, Coach Responsiveness and Resources Provided. These results demonstrate a tangible positive impact for employees and their families.

Learn more about Magellan’s Employer Solutions

In today’s complex healthcare environment, we continue to see a dynamic shift in managing complex chronic conditions with life-saving drugs. This introduces additional challenges for employers and their employees, especially in terms of access and affordability.

With the evolution of prescription benefit management, it’s a critical best practice for employers to plan today for tomorrow’s challenges. This will help identify opportunities and strategies to ensure the best clinical and economic outcomes for their company and their employees while delivering high-value, cost-effective prescription benefits.

Now is the time when most employers are planning for 2019 budgets. Understanding what will drive costs creates the opportunity for strategies to ensure the right drug is used for the right patient at the right time.

We are noticing three key themes related to 2019 expected pharmacy costs:

1. Overall drug costs will continue to grow by single digits primarily through generic competition and slower growth of specialty drugs. Specialty drugs will continue to drive the overall drug trend, continuing to increase by double digits (around 11%).
2. Two conditions: Autoimmune (anti-inflammatory) and Diabetes – account for 30-35% of all pharmacy costs. Drugs used to treat complex chronic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, and other autoimmune diseases, along with cancer and HIV/AIDS drugs, will account for about 60% of all specialty drug costs.
3. Specialty costs on the medical benefit are the most significant cost drivers today with little management. Injectable and infused drugs administered by providers to address conditions such as cancer and autoimmune disorders present unique challenges, with cancer and cancer-associated supportive drugs having a trend up to 25%; however, with less than 60% of employers having care management and prior-authorization programs for these top conditions.

A major trend in the pharmacy space continues to be increasing specialty drug spend, which is expected to continue with the introduction of new specialty agents for oncology, autoimmune disorders and rare diseases. In this year’s Medical Pharmacy Trend Report Employer Group Supplement, we found that 88 percent of employers reported a medical benefit spend of less than $10 million, and a year-over-year drug trend between 1-20 percent. For the few employer groups with spend above $10 million, it was due to a higher number of lives, and may be assumed that the employee mix for these groups may have included those with more costly health expenditures.

The Employer Group Supplement assists employer groups and third-party administrators in determining specialty drug trends and strategies to solve complex challenges impacting the medical benefit drug landscape. Our goal is to expand the information shared with employer groups to create a more dynamic picture of specialty drug management and help employers make more effective healthcare decisions. Building an effective medical benefit drug management strategy requires an in-depth knowledge of and expertise in this complex area, but it’s essential to help employers rein in costs and improve the quality of care for members. It is our hope that the survey data presented in this report helps employer groups begin to think about and investigate escalating medical pharmacy costs.

Download the full report or listen to our webinar to learn more.