Our Chief Revenue Officer Taryn Branca sat down with Dr. Angeline Beltsos, Kindbody’s CEO of Clinical, to discuss the metrics that matter most for employers when evaluating fertility benefits solutions. Dr. Angeline Beltsos is a board certified reproductive endocrinologist (REI) and an internationally recognized expert in her field.
Why is it important to evaluate fertility outcomes when choosing a fertility benefits solution?
We’ve never had as much data about fertility patients as we do today. The ability to collect and review fertility outcomes is an essential component of a comprehensive workplace fertility benefits program. Similar to how physicians use data to understand how their patients are responding to treatment and to drive decision making on future treatment options, when employers have access to high-quality data about their fertility benefit, it helps them better understand whether their employees are achieving their family-building goals. Quality data can help employers drive decision making surrounding the continued use and expansion of fertility benefits for their employees.
How do comprehensive fertility benefits directly impact fertility outcomes?
Patients with comprehensive fertility benefits have better outcomes when undergoing fertility treatments when compared to patients who pay for fertility treatment out-of-pocket. Patients that have access to fertility benefits and financial support for fertility treatments like in vitro fertilization (IVF) are more likely to make decisions based on physician recommendations and outcomes rather than make care decisions based on cost. When patients make physician-supported, outcome data-driven decisions, it leads to safer, lower-risk pregnancies, and ultimately healthier outcomes for both mother and baby.
What fertility outcomes and metrics should employers review when evaluating fertility benefits solutions?
When employers are evaluating their fertility benefits solution options, they should evaluate a variety of outcomes and metrics. In creating the Kindbody benefit, Kindbody evaluates its signature clinics and partner clinics using strict criteria covering access, quality/success rates, cost, and experience.
Access metrics should relate to both how and where employees will access care. Kindbody has both brick and mortar clinics staffed with fertility specialists, as well as a robust partner clinic network. Additionally, Kindbody is the only fertility benefits solution positioned to impact access to care outside of traditional care modalities. Through our Kind at Home testing solutions and our mobile fertility clinics, we are able to expand our reach to patients and markets that may not otherwise have convenient access to fertility care. Finally, Kindbody is the only fertility benefits solution that can provide employees and consumers with clinical visits in the comfort of their homes, no matter where they are.
Quality and success metrics such as elective single embryo transfer (eSET) rate, pregnancy rate, miscarriage rate, and live birth rate all help employers understand how well a benefits solution is helping their employees achieve their family-building goals. As a direct provider of care, Kindbody is able to provide clinical performance guarantees that lead the industry, including IVF pregnancy rate, eSET rate, multiples rate, and miscarriage rate.
Metrics like bundle case rates and total cost for patients help employers understand both their costs and their employees’ costs for fertility care. Kindbody negotiates direct bundle national case rates that allows employers to provide equitable benefits across the country and results in 20-35% savings for their employees. Additionally, as direct providers of care, Kindbody is able to leverage strategic volume-based partnerships with vendors to decrease operational costs, savings which we are then able to pass along to employers and employees.
Experience-based metrics should be top of mind for employers as they help tell the story of how their fertility benefits solution impacts how employees feel as they are going through treatment. Kindbody routinely monitors various forms of data including, but not limited to Fertility IQ scores, NPS Scores, public reviews, and patient feedback. This data allows Kindbody to implement improvements quickly with our care providers and signature clinics.
What kind of clinical standards should employers look for when evaluating a fertility benefits solution?
When a fertility benefits solution includes the provision of care, it gives employers an opportunity to ensure their employees will be receiving care that adheres to the highest clinical standards. Kindbody’s partner clinics go through a rigorous vetting process and must meet the highest standards of care used for our signature clinics.
Clinics in the Kindbody network must be registered and inspected by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), assuring safeguards are in place for donor suitability and use. Clinics must also be members in good standing with the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology (SART) and be led by a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinologist (REI) and a board-certified laboratory director. Additionally, as members of SART, these clinics are accredited by regulatory agencies such as the College of American Pathologists (CAP), which performs an onsite inspection to assure appropriate staffing, safety, and use of effective standards.
What should an employer fertility benefit include to drive better outcomes?
A high-quality employer fertility benefits solution should include financial support, clinical care navigation, genetic testing, and eSET standards. When fertility benefits include these elements the risk of multiples is far lower and patients are far more likely to achieve healthy pregnancies. A lowered risk of multiples means a lower risk of miscarriage, C-section, NICU stays and prolonged and/or complicated postpartum care. This means better health outcomes for employees who give birth and for their babies.
Why is Kindbody the best outcomes-driven fertility benefits solution for employers?
Kindbody is unique because it’s the only fertility benefits provider that is in the provision of care with clinical expertise. Kindbody owns and operates clinics. This means Kindbody is designed to deliver optimal clinical outcomes. It also gives employers a unique opportunity to gain visibility into comprehensive data directly from the providers delivering care. By eliminating the middleman, Kindbody is able to provide a seamless continuum of care, decrease cost, improve patient experience, and deliver better health outcomes. Kindbody is also able to provide a broad spectrum of care in modalities to serve employees when and where they need it through virtual appointments, Kindbody signature clinics, mobile clinics, and our robust global network of partner clinics. Kindbody is the only fertility benefits solution that can provide employees and consumers with clinical visits in the comfort of their homes, no matter where they are.
Kindbody delivers culturally competent care. Our clinics are staffed to reflect the communities we serve so each individual feels seen and understood. Today, 80% of Kindbody’s physicians are women, 50% of Kindbody’s physicians identify as BIPOC, and 45% of Kindbody patients are BIPOC. This is incredibly rare in healthcare. Numerous studies show that sharing a racial or cultural background with one’s physician leads to a better patient experience, better adherence to medications and treatment plans, and better health outcomes.
As the direct provider of clinical care through our signature clinics and specialty providers, Kindbody is able to nimbly access and evaluate large and interconnected health outcome data sets related to all types of fertility treatment. We are then able to swiftly identify opportunities for improving outcomes and continuously adapt care delivery to the changing needs of the fertility patient population.
Kindbody is more than a fertility benefits solution provider. We’re the doctors taking care of your employees. Employers can feel confident that their employees will receive best-in-class outcomes-driven care with their Kindbody benefit.
