Employers invest substantially in major medical coverage, telemedicine, employee assistance programs, wellness resources, navigation services, transparency tools, and condition-specific solutions. Each may provide meaningful value. However, the presence of multiple benefits does not necessarily mean employees have a clear, coordinated pathway into and through healthcare. Industry research continues to identify challenges involving point-solution overload, employee navigation, quality transparency, care coordination, appropriate site-of-care selection, and vendor integration. This webinar introduces Utilization Infrastructure as a strategic framework for evaluating how an employer’s healthcare benefits work together before health risk becomes workforce disruption, absence, disability, lost productivity, or avoidable claims.
Designed for senior HR, benefits, and total rewards professionals, the session will apply systems thinking, evidence-based evaluation, and benefits governance to employer healthcare strategy. Participants will examine whether employees have a recognizable front door to care, guidance toward appropriate resources, effective handoffs between programs, continuity after an initial encounter, meaningful engagement, appropriate privacy protections, and measures that extend beyond enrollment or portal activity.
The session will also clarify HR’s appropriate role. Employers should not diagnose employees, direct treatment, or receive individual medical information. HR leaders can, however, establish benefits strategy, improve usability, set expectations for vendor coordination and accountability, protect employee privacy, and align healthcare investments with workforce and organizational objectives.
Rather than assuming that every employer lacks these capabilities, the webinar provides a practical framework for identifying existing strengths, uncovering gaps, and determining whether the organization has assembled a benefits inventory or developed a functioning healthcare pathway. Although designed with senior HR leaders in mind, the presentation will use clear terminology, practical examples, and an accessible assessment process for HR professionals at all levels.
Learning Objectives
By the conclusion of the webinar, participants will be able to:
- Differentiate a broad benefits package from a coordinated healthcare pathway and explain the strategic purpose of Utilization Infrastructure.
- Evaluate how major medical, telemedicine, EAPs, wellness programs, navigation services, and point solutions operate individually and collectively.
- Apply a practical governance framework to assess employee access, vendor coordination, continuity, engagement, privacy, measurement, and organizational value.
Meet the Presenter
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David Middlemiss
David Middlemiss is the CEO of Prodigy Benefit Management LLC and the creator of Prodigy’s integrated healthcare plan model. His work focuses on helping employers rethink how healthcare benefits are structured, delivered, and utilized. Rather than approaching benefits as a collection of disconnected products, David has built Prodigy as an integrated healthcare plan designed to address access, compliance, utilization, and financial resilience together. David’s experience spans self-funded plan design, healthcare cost containment, compliance modeling, and participant engagement. He also helped develop the foundational framework that later evolved into Prodigy’s Paradigm program. Today, David is focused on building disciplined, compliant healthcare solutions that help employers reduce waste, improve access to care, protect participant privacy, and create reward structures that support better healthcare decisions and long-term financial security.
SHRM certification has approved this webinar for 1 PDC toward SHRM-CP or SHRM-SCP recertification. A program code will be provided at the end of the webinar.