With 11,000+ employees coast to coast, Phillips 66 invests heavily in health and wellness programs with local or digital access to improve lives and help with healthcare savings. So when they began seeing double digit increases in their overall musculoskeletal spend, they knew they needed to find a specialty care solution to help employees get the care they needed and lower costs.

“Nobody goes into surgery because they just want to see a provider,” said Derek Butts, Manager of Global Benefits at Phillips 66, a diversified energy manufacturer and logistics company. “They have pain, they have an issue, they can’t do whatever is fun for them—whether it’s playing with their kids, swimming, or playing football or basketball. We knew we had to put in a program that made it simple for employees to get back to doing what they loved. We wanted to help them determine their best course of care.”

Choosing and Re-Choosing Lantern: Phillips 66 Returns in 2023 

Phillips 66 first began looking for an independent Center or Excellence more than 10 years ago. They knew they wanted a solution that offered high-quality care with a broad network of surgeons close to where employees lived.

Kim Baker, Senior Advisor, Health and Wellness Benefits at Phillips 66, said they liked that Lantern focused on quality and vetted surgeons to ensure great care for their employees. They initially signed up for Lantern (formerly SurgeryPlus) in 2016, but ended the relationship after less than a year because the network of surgeons at the time wasn’t large enough for their population to easily access. “It’s really challenging for our people to travel three or four hours away for surgery,” Baker said.

After leaving Lantern, Phillips 66 relied on their carriers to steer employees to facilities and providers within those facilities that had to meet certain quality metrics. While they liked some aspects of the program, Baker knew she wanted more transparency into what those quality metrics were and how providers were meeting them. “Our carriers did a great job, but we’re in the business of refining and we like to challenge the status quo,” Baker says, adding they needed to see better outcomes and savings as healthcare costs continued to rise year over year.

So when Lantern approached Phillips 66 with an expanded Network of Excellence, which now includes more than 2,000 surgeons, they decided to take the conversation.

Key Considerations: High Quality Care and Best Outcomes

To ensure the Lantern partnership was ideal for Phillips 66 a second time, Butts admits he asked a lot of questions. They wanted to make sure the solution offered high-quality care and positive outcomes to help employees live their best lives in addition to better network access.

“We didn’t want a partner to just plop as many surgeons as they can around our people to make geographic requirements. We wanted to make sure that all surgeons are high quality,” Butts said. “We also wanted to keep our employees from those unfortunate cut-happy surgeons, and ideally help employees avoid surgery. For those who actually need surgery, we wanted to help them determine their best course of care, including expert medical opinions.”

Lantern’s rigorous vetting process for surgeons and facilities checked all the boxes. They appreciated clinically meaningful quality metrics like ensuring sub-specialization, board certification, procedure volume, as well as appropriateness of care to avoid unnecessary procedures. Phillips 66 has a 34% surgical avoidance rate for musculoskeletal procedures, thanks to Lantern.

“Quality is big to us and Lantern continues to show the credibility of their program,” Butts said. Baker agrees: “There’s evidence in what Lantern has done, it’s different than what the carriers could produce.”

Baker admits she was hesitant at first, but is beyond pleased with the network size, the quality of care, the outcomes and the member experience. “It’s gone over so beautifully,” she shared. “We’re educating our members. These outcomes are real. And you know, I say we’re not just asking members to drink the Kool-Aid, we’re right there with them.”

Spreading the Word: Utilization Increases Through Employee Word-of-Mouth 

Butts said it was important they could offer affordable surgery care to their employees to help increase engagement. As part of their plan design, Phillips 66 covers the majority of surgery costs and employees pay a deductible. “We are leveling the playing field across the economic spectrum for our employees who can get care with a great surgeon in their area, regardless of how much they make,” Butts said.

When choosing an independent COE, they had to get employees on board to actually use it in order to see the savings. Getting the word out, however, wasn’t difficult once employees got their Lantern ID card, had a high-touch experience with the Care Advocates, and got great care from their surgeon. Lantern has a 9 out of 10 satisfaction rating from members. “Employees love that this experience is different,” Butts said.

Baker said it’s the employees who have really helped to grow the success of the program. “We’re delighted to see the uptick in utilization,” Baker said. “Nothing sells Lantern like word of mouth, and it just started to spread like wildfire.”

Phillips 66 only makes bariatric surgery mandatory through Lantern, but said members are using it for all procedure types. “It’s for knees, it’s for hips… it’s just been delightful to watch and see my monthly reports,” Baker said.

The Results: Phillips 66 Sees Saving with Lantern’s Specialty Care Platform

When choosing a specialty care solution, Butts recommends that benefits leaders really dig into how a solution defines savings. “Reduction rate is important, but don’t give me a reduction on a national average. There are variations in costs from state to state. I need a reduction on a geographically appropriate amount. I want to see data. I asked Lantern and they thankfully obliged. But I have seen some very weird math in my career on calculated savings,” Butts said.

Since 2023, Phillips 66 has seen $3.5 million in savings with Lantern and savings of $18.66 PEPM. “It’s been a great experience,” Butts said. “We’ve had tremendous financial and employee success.”

Thanks to those savings, Phillips 66 has been able to reduce or hold employee premiums flat, and Butts said they’ve been able to invest in other programs for employees, like free financial coaching and digital counseling. “When we’re coming in saying we have savings with Lantern, it’s a much easier conversation with our executive team when we want to add other programs. It’s a win-win for Phillips 66 and our employees.”