Road to recovery: Taking a new approach to vendor partnerships

Part 5 in a series about MSK conditions and how advisers are changing their approach to treatment with new benefit solutions.

Amid the frantic search to end his MSK pain, Voluntary Disruption founder Eric Silverman leaned into his corporate mission to improve employee engagement. He knows enough not to randomly pick a doctor or surgeon and caution others against doing that.

"You want to check quality scores, and I'm not talking about Dr. Google reviews where Nancy in Dallas says he had a really nice fish in the fish tank," he quips. "I could have the worst doctor ever bedside manner-wise, but if he's ranked the best in the world for surgery, that's who I want." 

When Silverman's firm designs a comprehensive communication and marketing plan for employers, the objective is to sell education about benefits — not products or services — and do it throughout the year, not just during open enrollment. This way, employees are more apt to make informed choices when selecting coverage.

Read the rest of the series here: 

• Part 1: Road to recovery: How MSK conditions transformed advisers' approach to benefits and care
• Part 2: Road to recovery: Are non-surgical remedies the solution to MSK?
• Part 3: Road to recovery: Self-funded care cuts through the noise
• Part 4: Road to recovery: Patient advocacy, pain management critical for MSK

Pain management is another issue that was brought to the fore from their respective MSK journeys. Testa, for example, learned that it's best to avoid using narcotics to mask pain, citing a recent court settlement requiring OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and members of the family who own the firm to pony up to $7.4 billion in lawsuits over the powerful prescription painkiller.

Noting how those in pain are greater users of the healthcare system, Testa advocates for a holistic approach to building health benefits. When people are in pain, he says they're more prone to weight gain, high blood pressure, worsening diabetes, sleep deprivation and dark moods. 

Read more: What benefit managers are prioritizing in 2025

He advises his peers to encourage employer clients to work with a clinician, whether it's a direct primary care physician, virtual medical imaging or pharmacy benefit manager that has pharmacists on staff. He believes a clinician should be explaining medical issues to employers, not a broker. 

An evolving approach to vendor relationships

After facing a serious health crisis exacerbated by MSK, Contorno re-evaluated his approach to vendor management. "There are hundreds of point solutions, which might be anything from a diabetes program to smoking cessation," he says. "I used to think, 'Let me get the client into the plan with very little point solutions, analyze claims and only put in the point solutions for which there are actual issues within the client." 

That changed when he realized not a single one of his clients could escape the wrath of MSK issues. So rather than wait for an injury to arise, his advisory automatically builds an MSK solution into a client's plan design — in effect, a dose of preventive medicine.

Read more: Why senior leaders need preventative care benefits from their employers 

As a result of this move, Contorno experienced a tangible reminder of its value from a middle-aged Hispanic woman working for a commercial farming operation in Rockwell, N.C., at the company's open-enrollment meeting. 

"She said, 'Thank you so much for putting this plan in place last year,' noting how getting her knee fixed with any out-of-pocket cost made the procedure affordable," he reports, adding that it made her a better employee, better wife, better mother and better grandmother. "She started crying, and I was very touched by this."