Technology has completely revolutionized the way people work, and there is much more still to come.
Fifty-eight percent of companies plan to increase their technology budgets in the next year, according to data from technology insights platform Wifi Talents. So much so that the World Economic Forum estimates that the continuous evolution of workplace
"Every company is a technology company today," says Lupe Colangelo, director of alumni engagement and employer partnerships at online education platform General Assembly. "Increasingly, companies are realizing they can't just hire new employees with tech skills to stay competitive — they need to invest in training and upskilling programs that modernize their entire workforce."
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Healthcare, in particular, is an area that is ripe for transformation.
According to the KFF (formerly the Kaiser Family Foundation), one in four adults say they have skipped or postponed medical care because of costs. Given that Americans collectively owe at least $220 billion in medical debt, those fears aren't necessarily unwarranted.
However, a good health plan should encourage members to use it when they need it. For health insurance company Centivo, easy access to a primary care provider, or PCP, is key to this.
"We're not going to reinvent the wheel when it comes to something like adjudicating claims, but when it comes to the member experience, that's what we're trying to build up," says Boris Khomut, senior vice president of digital product at Centivo. "We created [a search] engine that can recommend a primary care provider based on members' preferences. With one click, they can schedule an appointment with that [provider] and access referrals from the provider. Those are the kinds of things that we've done to leverage technology to reduce friction that exists in the healthcare system."
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Evette is another company that's utilizing technology to make the user experience better but this firm is doing it in the veterinary relief staffing space. A people-first approach is essential to Evette's business.
The company matches veterinarians and vet technicians with shifts at animal clinics around the U.S., offering them full or part-time hours based on their needs, as well as salary and benefits options. Unlike other job platforms where matching to positions is often done online, every vet and tech is connected with an Evette concierge manager in their region and receives
For this level of human touch to work well, the company uses various tools to help their concierge managers and other staff
"We use tech behind the scenes, where you don't necessarily see it, and the clinics don't see some huge tech background or platform," says Elise Burns, Evette's founder and CEO. "But internally, we use it to make the clinics' and the vets' lives easier so that we stick to our mission, which is our concierge service."
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Despite all of the technological changes that have already happened, there is still more to come. Experts predict that continuing innovation will make the benefits experience more personalized, even more user friendly and lead to better outcomes. Specifically, generative AI will be a game changer.
"What we think is promising about all of this is we will see AI in our work lives proliferate," says Neal Mulville, vice president of the U.S. health innovation team at insurance agency Aon. "How we want to consume other things that come through the work channel will change, [and] it will set the expectation for other areas."
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