Where Does Musculoskeletal (MSK) Care Fit Into Your Global Benefits Strategy?

A competitive global benefits strategy is no longer a “nice-to-have” for organizations with international workforces. Between the economy, post-pandemic changes, and everything going on in the world, employees’ physical and mental health are taking a hit. This amplifies already existing issues and makes equitable access to care more difficult — especially for low income workers, women, and caretakers. Workplaces are experiencing increased absenteeism, reduced productivity, higher employee turnover, and a growing gap in health equity — and companies are now playing catch-up. 

This makes offering a robust global benefits strategy table stakes for 2025 and beyond.

A global benefits strategy is a plan that outlines how and what benefits a company will provide to its employees all across the world, ensuring that all employees have access to equitable benefits, regardless of where they live.

While only 12% of employers with international operations have a robust health and well-being strategy in place today, 35% of employers say they are gearing up to embrace a global benefits strategy by 2025.¹ 

How to get started with a global benefits strategy

So, you’re an employer who wants to create a robust global benefits strategy — what should you include?

Health equity is an important part of a global benefits strategy. This means that everyone has access to high-quality healthcare options — but it doesn’t mean that a U.S.-based company can simply offer the exact same benefits packages to all employees around the globe. An effective global benefits strategy is localized for each country’s laws, customs, and culture.

It can be challenging for benefits leaders to manage different providers in different locations without a global solution that makes care widely available, accessible, and localized. The best solutions in a global benefits strategy make equitable benefits easy to deliver. 

Start by making sure your global benefits strategy addresses the diverse needs of employees across different countries and cultures. Many companies are doing this by setting universal standards for medical benefits. These benchmarks guarantee that all employees can access the care they need, no matter where they live.

Employers with global minimum standards

Then consider what other organizations are planning to do in 2025. Prioritizing employees’ wellbeing, for example, is at the top of the list. Stress, anxiety, and other mental health challenges deeply impact employees in every aspect of their lives. To support them, companies are making it easy to access virtual therapy sessions, stress management programs, and other mental health resources.

One significant area you may be overlooking when it comes to expanding your global benefits offering is care for muscle and joint (musculoskeletal) pain — also known as a digital MSK solution. Companies like ours have been transforming care in this space for the last decade. We know that traditional care for MSK pain doesn’t meet the complex needs of modern workforces — and we’ve shown how digital care effectively addresses these gaps. 

Consider the advantages of offering personalized and accessible MSK care to your global workforce.

Why offer global MSK care?

Did you know that muscle and joint pain — think: neck and back pain, knee arthritis, and more — are a leading cause of workplace productivity loss and the second-biggest cause of disability globally (behind mental health)²? MSK pain affects 1.7 billion people worldwide³—that’s the equivalent of everyone in China and the United States combined. Traditional pain management treatment often isn’t enough to get people back to living their lives with less pain.

“Even in countries with government-sponsored healthcare, people can wait more than a month to get physical therapy care for musculoskeletal pain, and sometimes much longer,” says Wade Zander, Director of Global Product Marketing, Hinge Health. “Offering the right digital MSK care worldwide can unlock access immediately after enrollment, so people don’t have to suffer—or get worse.” 

Employers feel the effects of lost workdays due to MSK conditions, even when they’re not paying directly for healthcare. In Canada, for example, 20% of Canadian adults suffer from chronic MSK pain, resulting in more than 8,400 Canadian Dollars in lost productivity per MSK sufferer.⁴ And 8.9 million workdays were lost in the U.K. between 2019 and 2020 due to MSK conditions.⁵ In Germany, lost productivity due to MSK conditions is estimated to top 17 billion Euros.⁶

How Hinge Health can help you

Hinge Health Global delivers a personalized MSK care experience based on our experience delivering more than 25 million exercise therapy sessions to date. 

Unlike traditional MSK care, Hinge Health Global helps your global workforce get immediate access to an MSK solution. So instead of waiting to access physiotherapy and taking time out of work to receive care, Hinge Health Global is available on your employees’ own smart devices immediately after enrollment with no additional hardware required.

Within their app, each member receives a personalized care plan with exercise therapy and education that adapts to their evolving needs. These programs are delivered in employees’ local language with culturally relevant translations, observing local data privacy standards. Hinge Health Global is GDPR compliant in the EU and PIPEDA compliant in Canada and will observe local regulatory standards.

Hinge Health Global helps members improve mobility, reduce pain, and increase their overall productivity. On average, members experience a 68% reduction in pain after 12 weeks of exercise therapy.⁷ The result? Equitable access to care for your employees with MSK pain across the globe. 

Book a consultation today to explore everything Hinge Health Global can do for you and your employees.