An employee completes a blood test, opens the results and sees a value outside the reference range. The report contains information, but the employee still has questions: What does this mean? Who should I call? How do I arrange the next step?

For leaders evaluating preventive health benefits, that moment deserves as much attention as access to testing itself. A blood test begins a process. The benefit’s design should account for what follows. SHRM has identified benefits complexity as a growing HR challenge.

Offering blood testing through Sidewalk as a standalone benefit taught us that access alone doesn’t drive use. This prompted a broader question: How can we make the journey from testing to the right care easier for employees?

 

Give testing a clear purpose

Blood testing can provide information that supports preventive care and conversations with a healthcare professional. The value of these tests depends on selecting the right tests and acting on the findings.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, for example, recommends screening adults ages 35 to 70 who have overweight or obesity for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. It also recommends offering or referring people with prediabetes to effective preventive interventions. Screening and follow-up belong together.

Employers can ask testing providers how clinical appropriateness is determined, who reviews results and how findings that require attention are handled. Convenient collection options may make participation easier, but a larger panel or more frequent testing is not, by itself, evidence of a better benefit. Testing and repeat testing should reflect individual needs and clinical guidance.

 

Make results understandable

A useful results experience helps employees understand what was measured and what questions to bring to a licensed healthcare professional. As MedlinePlus explains, laboratory results need to be considered alongside health history and other clinical information. Educational explanations should be distinguished from diagnosis and treatment recommendations.

HR leaders can request a demonstration using a hypothetical result. Is the language understandable? Does the employee know whom to contact? Is there a defined process for timely clinical review when needed?

If AI helps explain results or organize information, ask how its role is communicated and how members reach human support. Employees should understand who is responsible for clinical decisions.

 

Connect the employee to care

SHRM’s guidance on helping employees advocate for their health highlights navigation and provider evaluation. Care navigation gives the next step practical support. Depending on the service, that might include helping someone identify a suitable provider, confirm network participation, arrange an appointment or share results with an existing clinician.

In our work developing Sidewalk’s care-navigation service, making those responsibilities explicit is a central design priority. A provider list, a scheduled appointment and a completed visit represent different levels of assistance. HR leaders should ask each vendor which of these steps it actually handles, and what happens if an employee still can’t get an appointment.

The employee should also know which services are included and which may create additional costs. Covered testing does not necessarily mean that every follow-up service is free.

 

Follow through and measure what happens

After a referral, a check-in can help identify unresolved barriers. Did the employee reach the clinician? Were the next steps clear? Is there a follow-up plan, including repeat testing when appropriate?

In its 2027 Employer Healthcare Strategy Survey, Business Group on Health found that surveyed employers were both elevating prevention and primary care and eliminating underperforming vendors. Benefits teams need measures that help them evaluate that investment.

Enrollment is a starting point. More useful questions include how many eligible employees complete testing, how many recommended referrals lead to visits and where people encounter delays. Reporting should spell out the time frame and what each percentage is measured against, while protecting individual health information.

Clinical outcomes and cost savings require separate evidence. A completed test or improved laboratory value does not, on its own, prove that a future medical expense was avoided.

When evaluating a blood-testing benefit, follow the entire member journey. Ask how employees receive their results, understand their options, connect with the right care and obtain follow-up support. That full journey is where testing and navigation work together to turn a preventive benefit into one employees actually use.