Cornerstone OnDemand

Check out our conversation with Dane Thorwaldson, former Global Benefits Lead at Cornerstone OnDemand.

Key takeaways:

What’s it like to manage benefits at Cornerstone on Demand?

Managing benefits at Cornerstone is all about being flexible and meeting people where they are—because if there’s a type of person in the world that exists, they’re at Cornerstone! We have a very diverse and distributed employee population. We’re a tech company, but we’re a 25 year old tech company, so we have people across multiple age groups, not just recent college grads in their early 20s. 

We have about 4,000 employees worldwide, with about 1,300 in the US. We do have a few office locations for people who want to come into the office, but we’re largely remote-first.

What problems were you trying to solve by bringing on Collective Health?

We were interested in switching networks and saw it as an opportunity to explore the TPA market. Like Cornerstone, Collective Health prioritized technology and user experience, which was a great match for us. We’ve always prioritized our people, so when we learned about Collective Health’s focus on simplifying the lives of our employees, it was an obvious choice.

How did Cornerstone introduce Collective Health to employees? Have you found higher engagement?

We have. Even though we didn’t change anything about our plan designs, just by introducing Collective Health, our employees viewed it as a completely new benefit because of the enhanced user experience. Collective Health made it very easy to roll out as well. We had Collective Health magnets on the bathroom mirrors. We had Collective Health posters up all over the office. We had a custom Collective Health presentation for open enrollment. There was a consistent voice and look and feel that we were previously lacking. Now, our people don’t even know what medical network we have. They just know that we use Collective Health. It’s become part of our vernacular. It’s become embedded in our culture.

Now, our people don’t even know what medical network we have. They just know that we use Collective Health. It’s become part of our vernacular. It’s become embedded in our culture. 

What has the member response been like?

We had a new hire that was coming on board as a result of an acquisition. She was in her third trimester of pregnancy and all of her providers were out of network with our plan. She was terrified that she was going to have to find all new providers or pay a lot of money to keep seeing them. Collective Health immediately had their Care Navigation team reach out to her before she was even on the plan and guided her through this process so she could continue to see her providers. This member was so grateful and appreciative. She kept saying, “You’re a hero, you’re a hero. This has been amazing.” During stressful times, it makes a world of difference to have a solution that’s going to alleviate stress for people.

She kept saying, “You’re a hero, you’re a hero. This has been amazing.” During stressful times, it makes a world of difference to have a solution that’s going to alleviate stress for people.

Do you have your full benefits ecosystem with Collective Health?

We do. Having one single place for employees to go for their medical, dental, and vision benefits has been absolutely incredible. And alongside that, to be able to have one place to go for telemedicine or mental health support, it just enhances the overall employee experience and increases utilization. If you have to tell employees to go to different places for different services, they’re less likely to use them. It’s that simple. By avoiding any confusion, we can make sure employees have a better experience and get the care they need.

If you have to tell employees to go to different places for different services, they’re less likely to use them. It’s that simple. By avoiding any confusion, we can make sure employees have a better experience and get the care they need.

How has Collective Health changed day-to-day administration for your team?

Collective Health saves us time. We can now send a website link to our people and be done. In my 20 years in the benefits field, sending a website link never worked. People usually came back with more questions. But with Collective Health, that doesn’t happen. It’s easy to use and understand.

How do you know if Collective Health is working? What metrics or feedback do you most reference?

I used to work as a consultant, so I’m always evaluating reports, metrics, and return on investment (ROI) with a critical eye. When we have quarterly reporting meetings with Collective Health, we discuss our strategies and their effectiveness. Every time I ask a question, the Collective Health team responds with a thoughtful follow-up. The results are consistently the same or better than what was initially presented. I’ve compared this with my own financial reporting and my consultant’s reporting, and everything matches up. This makes me confident in the financial metrics we have for patient care and management. It’s been a great experience.

Would you recommend Collective Health?

I first heard about Collective Health as a consultant. I thought it was interesting and exciting, but I didn’t have any personal experience with it. Still, I recommended it to my clients because I thought they would like it. Now, as an end user, I can say that I was a good consultant! I’ve experienced Collective Health firsthand and heard stories from our people about how it’s changed their lives. It’s not an exaggeration—Collective Health has made a real difference for people. So yes, I recommend Collective Health.

It’s not an exaggeration—Collective Health has made a real difference for people. So yes, I recommend Collective Health.

What’s your favorite thing about the Collective Health experience? What do you think is the Collective Health difference?

Collective Health is not trying to get people off of the phone. Collective Health is trying to help them. This sounds simple, and it sounds like it’s what everyone else is doing, but it’s not.

I’ve seen lots of different TPAs and lots of different care models. But I’ve been able to tour the Collective Health office and see how the Care Navigation team sits right next to the Member Services team, and it’s so neat that they can stand up from their desk and holler over to someone else and say, hey, this person needs help, can I transfer them to you right now? Rather than telling the member, here’s three other phone numbers that you can call, good luck. So, I think that has to take the cake.