Symposium Agenda

We kick off this groundbreaking meeting with an exploration of why now is the right time to engage all stakeholders in the convergence of healthcare and behavioral economics. In addition, the Pacific Business Group on Health provides a regional perspective on the issues facing plan sponsors today.

Healthcare spending in the United States is unsustainable. It accounts for 17% of our gross domestic product and continues to grow. Our health outcomes, however, are unimpressive. The gap between what we're spending and what we're getting suggests that our continued reliance on financial incentives alone is not enough to drive desired behaviors from patients and physicians. Learn how insights from behavioral economics offer the potential to profoundly change the current equation.

Classical economics assumes that people are rational and act in their own self interest; behavioral economics looks at the real world, focusing not on how people ought to act but instead on how they do act. Learn how the application of proven psychological principles “cracked the code” to significantly increase participation in personal retirement savings, and how these same principles apply to healthcare behaviors.

As the government undertakes dramatic healthcare reform, it is crucial to encourage a seismic shift in the system: rethinking how care is delivered and how providers, plan sponsors, and consumers are held responsible for the decisions they make. We explore why plan design, communication and administration must intersect with public policy imperatives, as well as how behavioral economics can enable better healthcare decisions.

Financial incentives and member education are the bedrock of many of today's health benefits. However, this approach assumes that consumer decision making is both conscious and easy. In contrast, choice architecture acknowledges that people frequently “drift” into choices, unconsciously avoiding those options that require even minor upfront effort. Explore a practical framework for understanding employee behavior around benefits, and the implications for unlocking more cost-effective healthcare behavior.

Building on the insights offered in the previous discussion, learn how Lowe's put behavioral economics to the test in the pharmacy benefit. See how the application of this framework nearly tripled the use of Home Delivery, with no changes in plan design while maintaining high member satisfaction. We will discuss potential applications to other healthcare issues as well.

This symposium is a beginning. Breakthroughs in behavioral economics provide us with new ways to deal with current and emerging challenges in healthcare. How do we get started? How can we actively engage key stakeholders to move from theory to practice? How do we ensure policymakers address behavioral economics in healthcare reform? Share in a practical discussion that takes stock of key stakeholders and gain workable insights that will help us all drive to success more quickly.