Employee assistance and health care companies look to the Bredeson Group for market research and employers/vendors engage our services to objectively evaluate employee assistance services (e.g., employee assistance, work/life or health promotion programs) and conduct Mystery Shopper reviews.

Market Research

Health care and employee assistance companies engage the services of the Bredeson Group to assess market needs and potential business opportunities, tapping into our 20+ years of employer health care and employee assistance experience, and for our knowledge of the employee benefits consulting world. For example, we worked with a major pharmaceutical company to conduct employer marketplace research relative to opportunities to partner on workplace health promotion and demand management programs. The centerpiece of this project was a database of 100 top tier Northeast U.S.A. employers that we built for this client resulting from:

  • In-depth telephone interviews with health care and benefits executives (e.g., corporate medical directors, vice presidents of benefits) from twenty multi-national corporations
  • Selection and customization of a database with which to track and manage relationships with the 100 top tier companies
  • Population of the database with key health care/benefits decision maker contact information, profiles of health benefits, health promotion information, web site and business location, health care/health promotion priorities for these firms
  • Contact information for the Northeast offices of employee benefits consulting firms and the personnel accountable for health care consulting in these firms

Another pharmaceutical company engaged our services to conduct research into the employer health care and benefits marketplace. In this case, we interviewed corporate health care decision makers and employee benefits consultants. This information was incorporated by us into “The Guide to Employee Benefits Managers” for use by pharmaceutical company account representatives to build relationships with corporate benefits decision-makers. We also conducted a workshop for company executives covering the content contained in the “Guide”.

Employee Assistance, Work/Life, Health Promotion and Managed Care Program Evaluation

We partner with employers on a one-time or ongoing basis to provide objective evaluation of their employee assistance, work/life, health promotion or managed care initiatives. Benefits or human resources managers often have little time to personally review program impact and outsource evaluation in order to obtain an objective, expert view of the value of their investment. This can include any or all of the following:

  1. Evaluation design: It should be “last things first” when it comes to evaluation. We work with purchasers to determine evaluation goals and measures at the outset.
  2. “Mystery Shopper Audit” of Telephone or In-Person Service: See more information below.
  3. Quality assurance questionnaires: Design, customization, review and summary of employee/family member responses to service quality.
  4. Account Management Review: Management of the relationship with your vendor’s account manager, including services review, training planning, quarterly meetings, annual objective setting and review of reports.
  5. Utilization Report: Design and review of internal or external program utilization report to compare services used to annual goals and/or covered contract items.
  6. Performance Guarantees: Establishment, negotiation and measurement of performance guarantees by which vendor performance is assessed and annual fees determined.
  7. Program Goals and Specifications: Degree to which program goals, budget projections and specifications have been met.
  8. Complaints: Review and establishment of mechanisms used to monitor and act on complaints; review of actions taken to remedy problems surfaced in complaints.
  9. Training Program Evaluation: Design and review of vendor training quality assurance questionnaires.
  10. Lifestyle Scorecard: Review of medical and disability claims data to quantify the need for and potential impact of an employee assistance or health promotion program.
  11. Comprehensive Program Audit: Assessment of vendor performance, internal program management and promotion, hand-offs to other vendors, statistical reports, accreditation, etc.
  12. Supervisors’ Survey: Design and implementation of supervisory survey to assess program awareness, utilization as a management tool and business impact.
  13. Employee/supervisory focus groups: Qualitative research used to evaluate current and plan future initiatives.
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Mystery Shopper Services

Have you ever been frustrated by the quality of service you receive from health care providers, either when you call them or when you go in person and have to wait? Or, as a group purchaser of workplace services, are you unsure exactly what kind of service your employees will receive from a prospective employee assistance or work/life vendor? As a vendor or employer, do you know whether a provider is adhering to agreed upon service standards? The Bredeson Group’s Mystery Shopper service was developed in response to consumers’ frustration over the service they receive, and employers’ and health care/employee assistance organizations’ desire to assess service and integration levels. It is a "real world" audit of consumer/employee access to employee assistance, social service, behavioral health, or medical services. The audit is complemented by Bredeson Group consulting services to assess access systems and develop customer service standards. Additionally, we conduct customer service training and coaching to ensure that policies and procedures are translated into excellent customer service.

We customize our Mystery Shopper service through up front consulting with clients to develop scenarios (e.g., an employee seeking elder care services or counseling for stress) that make sense for the organization under review. We then conduct a series of telephone calls in the role of consumers to assess whether a service provider (e.g., community mental health center or employee assistance program vendor) provides caring, efficient, effective and dignified access to services. We also go on site to observe facilities and staff interaction with patients, and with the Mystery Shopper him or herself.

Which organizations seek our Mystery Shopper Service? Our clients include unions or employers wishing to select an employee assistance program or managed care vendor, or evaluate an existing one, especially where there have been complaints or when they wish to determine whether services are integrated (e.g., when work/life and employee assistance program services are provided seamlessly). And they include employee assistance, work/life or health care organizations or health care providers wishing to test their services.