An entrepreneur at heart, he also began to formulate a business plan to help others who experience similar circumstances.

CareFlash helps people communicate beyond the initial well-wishes and expressions of concern. It allows families and friends to create their own private online CareCommunity that helps them work through some of life's most difficult challenges and decisions surrounding caring for ailing loved ones.

"At work, you have a long-standing, high-performing employee, and you can just tell something is going on with them, but they're not taking FMLA (Family Medical Leave Act); they're not calling in sick," he said. "You find out their best friend's kid was diagnosed with leukemia, and they haven't been sleeping well, and they're organizing help and have lots of stuff in addition to work on their shoulders."

When that happens, Drayer said there is so little an employer can bring to bear, even if they have the best Employee Assistance Program money can buy.

And consequently the employee's productivity, and possibly his or her team productivity is negatively affected.  The employee also might be more likely to take off work, or to come to work distracted. Both of these situations have workplace terms: absenteeism and presenteeism.

At the moment, CareFlash has about 15,000 care communities with an average of about 21 active members per community for a total of about 315,000 overall participants.

Drayer said he sees both need and opportunity for insurance brokers to consider including CareFlash in health care programs offered to their employer clients. CareFlash communities could be very empathetic audiences to some of the products and services they offer, he added.

According to various studies, the total cost of presenteeism to U.S. employers falls anywhere between $150 billion to $250 billion each year. Employees who come into work when they are sick or distracted can function at less than 100 percent for a long time. Presenteeism can also contribute to a negative workplace culture where employees are either expected to, or feel like they have to be in the office, no matter what the circumstances. This could lead to low morale and employee resentment.

According to "Absenteeism: The Bottom-Line Killer," a publication of workforce solution company Circadian, unscheduled absenteeism costs roughly $3,600 per year for each hourly worker and $2,650 each year for salaried employees.

David Wood, chief operating officer of American Medical Risk, said his company is launching an employee benefit insurance product for the 2014 benefit season designed to offer protection to employees while in the hospital. It will include CareFlash in the offering.

Wood first learned of CareFlash when his mother was ill a few years ago.

"I was just amazed how I was committed to so many things in my work and personal life, and it all came crashing down because my mom needed so many things and so much help," Wood said.

"CareFlash provides a whole healing environment in many ways for the employee, whether they are the patient or not, to be supported and empowered such that they're not sitting at their desk all day dealing with the health care issue or injury rather than working," he said.

Wood said he sees CareFlash as very similar to employee benefits now offered in EAPs.

"The EAP is kind of the quiet, unsung resource for employees and dependents, but when used, the benefit or perspective how much it helps is hard to compare," he said.

Photo: Jay Drayer.

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