Data-Driven Decisions: How Consultants Can Use Analytics to Guide Global Mental Health Benefits Expansion

Today’s benefits consultants are pivotal in shaping how global organizations support employee well-being. As mental health becomes a core part of workforce strategy, consultants are increasingly expected to provide data-backed guidance extending beyond shortlists of vendor recommendations. 

Now, clients are looking for insights on ways to structure, scale, and measure impact, ensuring mental health benefits continuously improve and evolve with workforce needs.

This guide offers a framework for using analytics to strengthen mental health benefits strategies, helping consultants improve vendor evaluations, align stakeholders, and deliver long-term value for organizations and their people. .

Evolving the Data with the Business Case

Historically, ROI cases for mental health benefits leaned on broad-stroke arguments: improved retention, reduced absenteeism, and vague nods to culture. While those still matter, CFOs are asking sharper questions.

Consultants now need to quantify:

• Reductions in medical and behavioral health claims
• Impact on leaves of absence and disability costs
• Real utilization rates by region
• Total cost of ownership when consolidating vendors

These metrics are for the foundation of a stronger, more specific business case that also sets the stage for ongoing optimization.

Addressing Risk and Complexity at Global Scale

When a US-based client looks to expand benefits globally, they face a landscape shaped by language, culture, regulatory risk, and operational complexity. By leveraging the right analytics, consultants can help surface the hidden costs of a fragmented approach to clients navigating international rollouts. Then, the case for scalable, globally-aligned solutions is clear. 

The pitfalls of fragmented solutions are familiar:

• A patchwork of regional EAPs with inconsistent quality
• Cultural mismatches that drive low engagement
• Lack of native language support 
• Administrative chaos and legal hurdles like GDPR and licensing

Data can show where existing models fall short, especially when mapped across regions, and provide a foundation for recommending a more strategic global solution. 

Metrics That Signal Value

Here’s what forward-thinking consultants are tracking and presenting to drive global mental health decisions:

Financial ROI

• What to track: Reductions in claims spend, pharmacy costs, and disability leave
• Why it matters: Justifies premium investment

Utilization

• What to track: Percentage of eligible employees using services, broken down by region and service type
• Why it matters: Demonstrates value beyond surface-level access

Equity & Experience

• What to track: Session volume per user, time to first appointment, provider match rates
• Why it matters: Highlights gaps in quality and consistency across regions

Operational Simplicity

• What to track: Vendor consolidation and estimated administrative hours saved
• Why it matters: Addresses HR’s resource constraints and reduces complexity

Modern Health, for example, provides employers with real-time data by country, user type, and engagement level. Consultants can use this data to challenge assumptions—like attributing low engagement solely to stigma—and proactively design for better uptake by prioritizing local language access, cultural relevance, and identity-aligned care.

Global Well-Being Demand Comparisons

Cultural expectations, system gaps, and provider fragmentation vary significantly across regions. Regional needs, shaped by cultural expectations, system gaps, and provider availability, must inform solution design. Region-specific examples include: 

Asia Pacific

Growth and Visibility: Digital mental health demand is rising rapidly; In 2024, nearly 70% employers in the region integrated well-being into their talent strategies. ‍

Navigating Stigma: In countries where stigma continues suppresses demand, indirect metrics like absenteeism can help surface needs, making localized content a valuable asset.

Latin America

Holistic Care Expectations: Eight out of 10 HR leaders in this region say employee well-being has become increasingly more important to their company in recent years.

Operational Complexity: Organizations often have to manage three or more vendors across the region. Aggregating usage across fragmented providers is a major challenge benefits consultants can help solve. 

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa

System Strain and Opportunity: Rising public health pressure has increased demand for employer-sponsored care.

Utilization Red Flags: Persistently low engagement with legacy EAPs often signals misalignment. Consultants can help unpack the “why” through benchmarking key metrics like utilization rates by country, identity-based gaps in access, and clinical impact.

Continuous Improvement Strategies

Analytics can and should be used beyond selecting vendors and into evolving care. Consultants can help clients track session completion rates, satisfaction scores, and behavioral health claim reductions to continuously improve mental health offerings. Below are three high-leverage strategies for using analytics to guide mental health program improvement:

1. Surface Unmet Needs Using Indirect Signals: Advise clients to review indirect indicators like absenteeism, stress leave, or turnover trends as part of a regional needs assessment. These signals help build the case for proactive investment even when reported usage is low.
2. Leverage Claims Trends to Strengthen the Business Case: Where available, encourage clients to include anonymized claims summaries or carrier insights in their benefits reporting. This can help quantify potential cost-offset from timely mental health support, particularly in finance-facing conversations.
3. Disaggregate Outcomes by Region or Identity Group: Encourage clients to break down engagement and satisfaction metrics by region, language, or user identity (e.g. LGBTQ+, caregiver status). Doing this reveals who the benefit is actually serving—and who may be underserved—creating opportunities for more inclusive design.

Driving Better Outcomes with Data-Led Strategy

As mental health benefits become both a competitive differentiator and a compliance necessity, consultants are being asked to connect the dots between global strategy and local outcomes. Data provides the critical throughline.

The right analytics can support every stage of your client engagement: from building the business case to customizing delivery by region to tracking long-term value. With these tools in hand, benefits consultants can help employers deliver mental health programs that are not just global in scope but meaningful in impact.