How telehealth enhances employer-provided health plans
Companies that already offer telehealth services to their employees are seeing significant gains in productivity and time saved.
Employers are planning for a new normal in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while many of their deliberations center around issues like remote work and protocols for returning to the office, they’re also weighing which new offerings and employee benefits will help recruit and retain top talent while delivering tangible value to the organization itself.
Related: 3 themes will define virtual health care strategies in 2021
That’s why telemedicine is slated to feature prominently in the post-pandemic employee benefits landscape. As major corporations like Amazon and Walmart expand their employee telehealth offerings, companies large and small will follow suit, making health care more efficient and effective for their workforces while saving themselves billions in costs – a true win-win.
Addressing the rising cost of care
It’s hardly a well-kept secret that soaring health care costs are eating up a large chunk of employers’ budgets, with large companies’ total costs for employees and dependents on track to reach $15,500 per employee this year, compared to $14,642 in 2019. However with telemedicine services, employers could save money by offering preventative care, treatment for chronic conditions, mental health services, and other health care needs, all digitally.
Take urgent care costs. While two-thirds of U.S. emergency room visits are avoidable – meaning patients could receive safe and effective care in other settings and through modalities like telehealth – millions of patients stream into emergency departments every year at a cost of approximately $1,400 per visit. This triggers higher premiums for employers, who have a clear interest in providing their workers with access to telehealth services that offer video or phone consultations with physicians at any time, including after hours and on weekends.
Of course, rising health care costs largely stem from the burden of chronic disease, which accounts for 86% of all health care costs in the U.S. Without new efficiencies, the costs associated with chronic illnesses will only increase as the elderly share of the population climbs over the coming decades. Already, 50% of Americans are living with a chronic disease, and this comes at a substantial cost to their employers. According to the CDC, high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, physical inactivity, and obesity cost American employers $36.4 billion each year due to missed workdays.
Telehealth can be a highly effective tool for helping those living with chronic diseases better manage their health and preventing those at risk from getting sicker. Not only does telehealth remove barriers to care and promote greater overall wellbeing by facilitating easy, convenient virtual visits, but there are also promising telehealth solutions designed to address the challenges posed by specific chronic diseases, like diabetes or hypertension.
A vital employee benefit
Companies that already offer telehealth services to their employees – including on-site, like General Motors – are seeing significant gains in productivity and time saved. Opening telehealth clinics at employee worksites means that workers won’t have to take time out of their days to commute to and from a doctor’s appointment, where they may spend lengthy periods in waiting rooms before they’re even seen by a physician. Eliminating such unscheduled time away from work can save employers up to $3,600 per hourly worker and $2,660 per salaried employee each year. Meanwhile, employees themselves will save an average of 100 minutes per telehealth appointment compared to a regular in-person visit, all at an average cost of only $79 versus $146 for an in-person appointment.
No less important, telehealth is a driver of both short-term and long-term value from the employee’s perspective. Amid the ongoing pandemic, it offers a safe, effective way to continue receiving clinical-quality medical care without risking contagion in hospitals and doctors’ offices. And by offering telehealth services now, employers will be joining a trend that’s already reshaping health care. As with so many other goods and services in the digital era, consumers want health care to be fast, affordable, and convenient. Employers can meet this demand by including telehealth in their benefits packages and incentivizing virtual visits through creative tactics like offering employees wearables that track and collect data on their health to let them know when it’s time to book a remote appointment.
Telehealth’s ability to reduce health care costs, boost productivity, save employees time, and deliver efficient, on-demand health care may seem reason enough for employers to embrace it. But telehealth’s promise doesn’t end there. Since the emergence of the pandemic, employers have been grappling with an epidemic of employee burnout and mental health challenges.
According to Total Brain, employees’ risk of depression has spiked 71% since the pandemic. Meanwhile, the mindfulness app Headspace reports a 500% increase in interest from employers considering offering the service to their employees free of charge, underscoring the growing demand for digital solutions that can address the stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout with which many are struggling. Telehealth can also make therapy sessions and psychiatric consultations more convenient and less intimidating for those who need these services but may not otherwise have sought them out.
More than a year and a half into the pandemic, telehealth has been a part of many of our lives for some time already. And while it’s uncertain when the pandemic will be fully in the rear-view mirror, it’s time to start thinking about telehealth’s role in the post-pandemic future – and for employers, there’s ample reason to latch on. The future of health care is here, and the question for employers is whether they’re ready or not.
Shriya Palekar is senior director of health plan solutions at TytoCare.
Read more: