Benefits Canada‘s June Head to Head feature asked whether employers should collect demographic data on benefits utilization to identify equity gaps.

The discussion offered two complementary perspectives. Demographic data can reveal who is or isn’t using a benefit and expose weaknesses in plan design. But benefits data is highly sensitive and must be sufficiently aggregated and privacy-protected, with no diagnoses, medical records or identifiable health information shared with employers.

Plan sponsors receive aggregate information on utilization and cost. What these reports generally don’t show is whether plan members’ symptoms eased, quality of life improved or ability to work consistently and productively increased.

Read: Head to head: Should employers collect demographic data on benefits utilization to identify equity gaps?

As a physician and health systems outcomes analyst, I focus on those outcomes. For plan members, the question is simple: Am I feeling and functioning better? For plan sponsors, these are........

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