CASE STUDY

How Benefits Data Helped Wayfair Plan a Successful Open Enrollment

Ask any benefits leader to name their biggest challenges, and you’ll likely hear about Open Enrollment. This case study will share some tips from Artemis client Wayfair.

  • How benefits data revealed surprising utilization trends
  • Tips for using data to plan a successful Open Enrollment
  • Strategies for reaching the right employees in the right locations
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Wayfair employs nearly 15,000 people in locations around the United States. Employees work in a wide range of roles from data science to engineering to warehouse fulfillment. They leverage the Artemis Platform to get a holistic view of their member population’s health, utilization, and needs.

Ask any benefits leader to name their biggest challenges, and you’ll likely hear about Open Enrollment. It’s the busiest time of year for HR and Benefits teams, and they plan for it months in advance. In this case study, we’ll explore how Wayfair, one of the world’s largest online retailers for home goods, worked with Artemis Health to track, measure, and plan for a successful Open Enrollment.

Wayfair’s benefit leaders wanted to focus their Open Enrollment member education in the jobsites that need it most. While each site has an HR Generalist to help employees understand their benefits, Wayfair planned to send a Benefits Specialist to the locations that needed extra attention. How did they find out where a Benefits Specialist would have the biggest impact? They turned to the Artemis Platform to look across all their benefits data feeds—medical, prescription, wellness program, engagement, and more.

The analysis.

Using the Breakdowns feature of Artemis to sort by office location, Wayfair tracked key metrics, including:

  • Use of urgent care and emergency rooms
  • Primary care visits
  • Annual physicals
  • Place of service for care
  • Telemedicine utilization
  • Fertility claims prevalence
  • Out-of-pocket costs for members

By correlating these metrics to office location, Wayfair gets a clear picture of where and how to allocate time during Open Enrollment.

“We’re not going in blind; we’re going in with data. When we talk to people, we sound like we know them. ‘We’re educated, and we know what you need from your benefits.’” – Emily Munroe, Benefits Manager at Wayfair

The action.

After diving into the data, Wayfair is personalizing Open Enrollment education to fit the needs and engagement gaps of each jobsite. Here are some examples of tactics they’re using:

Wayfair's tactics include 1) installing telemedicine kiosks at locations with high ER and Urgent Care utilization 2) educating members on the differences between health plans, focusing on those with high out-of-pocket costs and 3) spotlighting a new fertility vendor at locations with higher fertility claims.

The result.

One of the surprising findings? The larger jobsites didn’t necessarily correspond to higher costs, utilization, or employee health needs. If Wayfair’s benefits team only sends Benefits Specialists to the biggest offices, their messages won’t  have the same impact. With access to reliable benefits data, they are targeting member education efforts where they’re needed most.