How A Whole-Person Approach To Health Is Shaping The Future Of Employee Benefits

 

From Fragmented Care To Whole-Person Care

 

Whole-person care paves the way for a new approach to healthcare.¹ By linking physical, behavioral, and social drivers of health services, it provides employees with integrated support that addresses all aspects of their health and wellness.

 

Today’s Disconnected Care Model

 

Healthcare experiences extend far beyond the clinic or doctor’s office

 

Employees must navigate mental health, financial wellness, and social needs

 

Care remains fragmented

 

Employees are left to piece together disconnected services

The Whole-Person Care Connection

 

The whole-person care model treats employees as individuals. This model delivers coordinated care tailored to each employee by integrating these aspects and fostering collaboration among care providers, employers, and communities by incorporating:

 

Physical health

 

Behavioral and mental health

 

Social drivers of health

 

Why Whole-Person Health Matters

 

Integrated whole-person care improves health outcomes

 

Aligns services around the full spectrum of employee needs

 

Reduces avoidable readmissions

 

Supports employee engagement, productivity, and resilience

 

By The Numbers

 

0.5–2.7% reduction in preventable readmissions²

 

21% lower risk of 30-day readmissions with timely follow-up³

 

How A Whole-Person Approach To Health Helps Employees

 

A whole-person approach to health ensures seamless care across different care providers and settings, reducing gaps in care and helping to lower costs. Employees receive timely interventions and continuous support.

 

Older care models were fragmented, leading to poor outcomes

 

Treats the entire individual

 

Recognizes health is shaped by physical, behavioral, and social factors

 

Creates coordinated care plans aligned to individual goals

 

How Employers Can Support A Whole-Person Approach To Health

 

Employers can significantly influence healthcare outcomes by choosing benefits and partners that support whole-person care. Their decisions while designing their employee benefits programs can help to integrate physical, behavioral, and social needs.

 

Better employee outcomes

 

Cost savings

 

Stronger workforce

 

By The Numbers

 

Post-Acute Care: Millions saved through optimized utilization⁴

 

Palliative Care: $890–$3,480 savings per member per month (PMPM) across 200,000+ patients⁵

 

Behavioral Health:

 

20% reduction in suicidal events⁶

 

30% reduction in behavioral health spending PMPM⁶

 

Whole-Person Care And Technology

 

By connecting care providers, employees, and care teams through digital platforms like Anthem’s Sydney^® Health app, technology allows for a whole-person approach to health, and at scale. Data sharing ensures care across physical, behavioral, and social health services is connected.

 

The Future Of Whole-Person Care

 

The whole-person care model is becoming the standard, with employers, care providers, and health plans creating care models that factor in all aspects of health.

 

Advances in digital healthcare and data-driven insights will enable earlier interventions, more coordinated transitions across care settings, and deeper engagement from employees in managing their own health. This creates unique opportunities that will help to boost workforce resilience, employee experience, and well-being.

 

1 National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health: Whole Person Health: What It Is and Why It's Important (accessed January 28, 2026): nccih.nih.gov.

2 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: 2024 National Impact Assessment of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Measures Report (2024): cms.gov.

3 Centers for Disease Control: Outpatient Follow-Up Visits to Reduce 30-Day All-Cause Readmissions for Heart Failure, COPD, Myocardial Infarction, and Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (September 26, 2024): cdc.gov.

4 Carelon: Facility-Based Post-Acute Care Case Study (accessed January 29, 2026): carelon.com.

5 Carelon: How Carelon’s Palliative Care services improve patient outcomes and provide value-based care (accessed January 29, 2026): carelon.com.

6 Carelon: Case study: success stories from Carelon Behavioral Health’s Suicide Prevention Program (SPP) (accessed February 2, 2026): carelon.com.