Lowe’s is expanding its concierge service benefit to help employees through open enrollment.
The home improvement store partnered with healthcare concierge company Accolade to give full-time, benefit-eligible employees comprehensive benefits support. Employees can reach out to Accolade “health assistants” as a first point-of-contact for their benefits questions, which includes value-based price transparency advice, telemedicine, expert second opinion, pre-diabetic weight-loss solutions, no-cost diabetic support, on-site clinics, maternity programs and mobile screening units.
They also have access to the cloud-based Accolade platform that leverages machine learning and a newly enhanced mobile product, says Rob Cavanaugh, president of Accolade.
More than 85% of employees enrolled in Lowe’s medical plans will be under Accolade’s care, according to the company.
"Lowe's is focused on delivering a personalized, omni-channel experience for our customers to make shopping for the home easier and more enjoyable,” says Gregor Teusch, Lowe's vice president of total rewards, in a press statement. “We also want to deliver the same ease of experience and level of ease when it comes to our employees' medical care.”
Accolade’s “health assistants” work with a team of nurses, doctors, pharmacists, social workers and other specialists who support members as they receive their care from their own providers.
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The consumer interface helps employees verify which doctors are in their network, which minimizes costs, and allows them to manage not only their own employee benefit profile but also that of their family members, says Cavanaugh.
The population health benefit also bridges the education gap for the growing millennial workforce, which is beginning to transition from their parents’ health insurance to their own.
Cavanaugh declined to share the cost of the benefit to Lowe’s employees, but noted the pricing structure is per employee per month. The cost is dependent on the population and services, but he says that Lowe’s is very advanced in the Accolade services it provides. Accolade works with other employers such as Temple University Health System and Comcast.
Although the company says it helped a number of Lowe’s employees and their families enroll from Oct. 9 to Oct. 27 for 2018 open enrollment, the benefit will kick in with the full-time, self-insured population in January 2018.
