As an employer, you want to provide the best health care benefits for your team because it promotes wellbeing, job satisfaction, and it can actually help you save money in the long run.

You do the research to ensure that you’re working with a high quality health care network, and with 30% of employees working remotely, you may have staff in multiple states who need coverage. You may consider a national health plan to be able to cover all of your staff. But have you explored whether or not the network you’re offering is inclusive? According to Gallup’s State of the American Workforce Report, 61% of employees said that they were willing to change jobs for reasons related to health insurance—including not having a plan that is comprehensive enough—so having an inclusive network it is a worthwhile consideration.

Inclusive care networks explained.

An inclusive health care network is one that can be measured for cultural competency—it’s a way to assess each provider’s ability to provide care to culturally diverse communities. With the launch of Violet’s health plan analytics dashboard, it’s now possible to see the most up-to-date provider inclusivity data.

Having this information is helpful because it can shine light on areas where networks may need upskilling, so providers can be held accountable for areas that need improvement. In many cases, this can be achieved through provider continuing education. For example, a health system that operates within a strictly conservative area of the US most likely does not have many providers trained in the best practices for treating Transgender and Non-Conforming (TGNC) patients. But these are skills that can be learned, such as performing an inclusive intake process, using a trauma-informed approach, and how to provide gender affirming mental health care.

Being able to measure providers within an inclusive health care network can also highlight culturally competent clinicians that were previously unknown. Often, lived experience is conflated with cultural competence skills, and can result in providers who identify as BIPOC, LGBQ, and/or TGNC treating a disproportionately large caseload of diverse patients. Of course lived experience is valuable, but it’s not the sole indicator of cultural competence. When provider networks are benchmarked for their inclusivity, there are a number of clinicians who are shown to possess hidden cultural competence skills.

Why are inclusive networks important?

Inclusive networks make it easier for employees to find the provider that’s right for them. Your team is made up of a diverse group of people, so it makes sense to offer a group of providers with a diverse set of skills. By offering an inclusive network, you’re making the process of getting care from a culturally competent clinician that much simpler.

Culturally competent care has also been shown to improve behavioral health care retention rates. In other words, when a person is matched with a clinician that understands and affirms their identities, they are more likely to stick with them.

Why should employers offer inclusive networks?

Offering an inclusive network shows your employees that you care about their wellbeing beyond offering basic health insurance:

• It can serve as an extension of the benefits of the Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) that your team members already rely on for identity-based support, community, and representation.
• Having access to culturally competent providers strengthens employee retention and encourages diverse candidates to apply for new roles.

Inclusive networks are also valuable because they can improve your current health plan without having to go through the trouble of searching for a new network. From an HR standpoint, this can save a lot of time!

Are you interested in learning more about providing an inclusive care network for your employees? Book a demo today to learn how Violet can help.