Most people interact with the healthcare system in many different ways throughout the year. They may see a primary care physician, fill prescriptions, visit a specialist, access behavioral health support, or receive routine dental care. While those interactions may happen in different settings, they are all part of the same health journey.
Too often, however, the healthcare system is not designed to reflect that reality. People seek care according to individual needs and symptoms, while providers often focus on specific conditions or specialties. The result can be a fragmented experience that leaves individuals to connect the dots, navigate next steps, and make complex healthcare decisions on their own.
That fragmentation can make it harder to identify health risks early, connect people to recommended care, and address manageable health issues before they become more serious and costly.
A whole-health approach starts with a more complete view of the person. It recognizes that every interaction with the healthcare system can be an opportunity to better understand someone's needs and guide them toward the right care at the right time. That includes familiar touchpoints such as primary care visits, pharmacy interactions, behavioral healthcare, preventive screenings, and dental care that may not always be viewed as part of the broader health journey.
In this Q&A, we sit down with Morgan Kendrick, Executive Vice President and President for Commercial Health Benefits at Elevance Health, and Julie Mitchell, MD, MS, Regional Vice President & Senior Clinical Officer, Elevance Health, to discuss why healthcare is evolving toward a more connected approach, how better coordination can support earlier action, and why every healthcare touchpoint can play a role in improving outcomes and addressing rising healthcare costs.
Q: Why is healthcare moving toward a more connected, whole-health approach?
Morgan Kendrick: Whole health is about creating a healthcare experience that is organized around the person, rather than around individual services or points of care.
A person managing diabetes does not think of themselves as one person at the pharmacy, another person at the dentist, or someone else when they see their primary care doctor. It is one life and one health journey.
That means we need to look across the different factors and interactions that shape a person's health and find ways to make the experience more connected. It means helping people understand their options, connecting them to the right care and support, and acting sooner before a manageable health issue becomes more serious and costly.
When we make healthcare more connected, we create more opportunities to support prevention, improve outcomes, and help avoid higher-cost interventions down the road.
Dr. Julie Mitchell: From a clinical perspective, whole health starts with recognizing that the body does not function in separate systems. What happens in one part of the body can influence another, so delivering effective care requires a more complete view of the person across physical, behavioral, and oral health, not just isolated conditions or encounters.
A whole-health approach helps make care more coordinated, responsive, and proactive over time.
When information flows more effectively across care settings, it becomes easier to identify risks earlier, connect people to appropriate care, and reduce the need for more complex and higher-cost care over time.
Q: Where does fragmentation show up most clearly for consumers and employers?
Morgan Kendrick: For consumers, fragmentation often shows up as homework. People are asked to connect the dots themselves: repeat the same information, understand which benefit applies, decide where to go next, and figure out how one part of their care relates to another.
Fragmentation can also lead to duplicated services, delays in care, and missed opportunities for prevention, all of which can increase costs over time and make health needs more difficult to address.
Employers feel this disconnect, too. They are investing in benefits to support their workforce, but those benefits are most effective when they work together rather than operating as separate offerings that employees have to navigate on their own.
The opportunity is to make the system easier to use and more proactive. When the experience is better connected, people can get support sooner, and employers can get more value from the benefits they are already providing.
Q: What are some of the healthcare touchpoints that may be overlooked when people think about whole health?
Dr. Julie Mitchell: Every healthcare interaction can contribute to a more complete understanding of a person's health.
When healthcare providers have a more complete view of a person's health, they are better positioned to identify potential concerns earlier, support prevention, and help people take the next appropriate step in their care.
Oral health is one reminder that different aspects of health are interconnected. Conditions such as diabetes can influence oral health, just as oral health can affect the management of chronic conditions. But the broader lesson is that health does not exist in silos.
A dental appointment is not a substitute for medical care. Rather, it can serve as another opportunity to reinforce preventive habits, identify potential concerns, and encourage appropriate follow-up when needed. When these touchpoints are viewed as part of a broader health journey, we create more opportunities to support people earlier and more effectively.
Q: What could a more connected experience look like for a member?
Morgan Kendrick: It should feel simpler, not more complicated. Consider someone who is managing a chronic condition and may benefit from additional support. In a more connected model, that person can be identified for an available benefit and encouraged to use it through digital tools, rather than being left to discover it on their own.
The goal is to make the interactions that are already happening more useful and help members understand the next best step. When people are connected to preventive services earlier and understand how different parts of their health relate to one another, there is a greater opportunity to address concerns before they become more serious and more expensive to treat.
The same principle applies across the healthcare experience. The more effectively we can connect information, care, and support around the person, the easier it becomes to help people access the right care earlier and stay on track with their healthcare needs.
Dr. Julie Mitchell: That earlier connection can make a real difference clinically. When someone receives the right support sooner, there is a better opportunity to address a health need before it becomes more complex or to stabilize a chronic condition.
A more connected experience may involve helping someone understand and access preventive benefits, identifying unmet healthcare needs, encouraging follow-up screenings, or connecting individuals to additional support based on their health needs.
Dental care helps demonstrate how this broader approach can work. The relationship between diabetes and oral health is a good example of how different aspects of health influence one another. People with diabetes are more likely to experience oral health complications, while untreated oral health issues can make chronic conditions more difficult to manage.
But the larger goal is helping people understand how different aspects of their health connect and ensuring they have access to the support they need.
When healthcare touchpoints work together rather than operating independently, each interaction becomes more meaningful. That helps support prevention, improve outcomes, and reduce the likelihood of more serious health issues over time.
Q: How can a whole-health approach help address rising healthcare costs?
Dr. Julie Mitchell: A whole-health approach helps improve health outcomes while addressing rising healthcare costs by recognizing that both are influenced by many interconnected factors.
When care is fragmented, opportunities to intervene early can be missed. A person may delay a recommended screening, struggle to manage a chronic condition, or seek care in the emergency department for an issue that could have been addressed earlier in a lower-cost setting. A more coordinated approach can help identify needs sooner, support timely follow-up, and connect people to the right care before health concerns become more serious, helping improve outcomes while reducing the likelihood of hospitalization, more intensive treatment, and avoidable healthcare costs.
The evolution of oral health is one example of how healthcare is increasingly moving beyond traditional silos and toward a more coordinated experience. For example, helping people with diabetes stay engaged in preventive dental care can reduce the risk of painful oral infections that may otherwise lead to emergency department visits, missed work, and disruptions to daily life. Coordinated education and support can also help people better manage their blood sugar levels when illness or infection occurs, reducing the risk of additional complications and healthcare costs.
But the opportunity extends well beyond dental care. It includes bringing together physical health, behavioral health, pharmacy, preventive care, and community-based support in ways that are easier for people to navigate.
When healthcare experiences are more connected, people are better positioned to stay engaged in preventive care, manage chronic conditions effectively, and avoid unnecessary complications. Over time, that can support better health outcomes and a more sustainable cost of care.
Q: What will it take to make a more coordinated, whole-health experience the norm?
Morgan Kendrick: It starts with building the healthcare experience around the person rather than individual services.
People should not have to piece the system together themselves. They should have a clearer understanding of where to go, what support is available, and what comes next. That requires better coordination across the different moments that shape a person's health.
Technology and data can support that work, but the end goal is very human: make the experience easier to navigate, help people get care earlier, and improve health outcomes over time.
A whole-health approach is not about any one benefit, program, or interaction. It is about making every touchpoint work harder for the person.
Better healthcare for the future depends not only on managing healthcare costs, but on helping people stay healthier and avoid unnecessary care whenever possible.
Learn more at elevancehealth.com
