We often talk about the rate of change in our industry and the ways it impacts benefits advisors and their clients. Although historically slow to adapt to new ideas and innovative technologies, the benefits world has made significant strides in recent years, often with very positive results. We’ve also learned that no matter how quickly we adapt, it’s never quite enough.
The latest driver of change has been the pandemic and its widespread impacts. While it has created a variety of new challenges and opportunities, it has also taken existing trends in the industry and, to quote the members of Spinal Tap, “put it up to 11.”
Related: 2020 sales & marketing tips: Innovation, collaboration and personal growth
The current poster child for this accelerated change is telehealth. Virtual health care was already expanding steadily, but COVID-19 hit fast forward. Consider these eye-popping stats:
- Claims to private insurers have increased 4,347% year-over-year, according to FairHealth’s monthly telehealth tracker.
- Telehealth demand has increased by 64.3% in 2020, across all ages and demographics, according to research from CivicScience.
- CVS Health saw 600% growth in telehealth and virtual visits through their MinuteClinics in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the first quarter of 2019.
- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Tennessee saw 50 times more telehealth visits in May 2020 compared to their normal amount of telehealth visits.
- Blue Cross of Idaho processed more than 90,500 telehealth claims between March and June of 2020; telehealth now represents more than 1/4 of all claims.
Another transformation drastically accelerated by the pandemic is the move toward a more flexible and efficient workplace, including brokerages and the employer clients they work with. In this month’s feature, “More focused. More productive.” (page 20) we look at how, as agencies change and the role of advisors evolves, successful shops are changing how, and who, they hire. As Emily Payne writes, “Successful agencies today are often built around specialization, expertise and agility. But those aren’t the only differences.”
Those traits are exemplified by our 2020 BenefitsPRO Broker of the Year, Derek Winn (page 14). His background as a history teacher provides him with perspective during tumultuous times and helps him offer insights when training his team. “You need someone who is adaptable, agile, and who has a good worldview; it takes those traits to be successful,” he says.
Sounds like the perfect blueprint to prepare for whatever comes next.
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