Employers looking to drive engagement by consolidating benefits, adding virtual specialty care

It often is easier to order at a restaurant with a handful of tried-and-true menu options than from a buffet with an overwhelming number of choices. The same can be true when it comes to employee benefits. “When employees have too many options that are not integrated, they just don’t use them,” said Julian Flannery, CEO of Summus, a virtual specialty care company.

Summus recently surveyed more than 270 U.S. human resource and benefit leaders to understand the state of current employer-provided benefits, perceptions of virtual specialty care and gaps in current employee health care benefits. Nearly three-fourths seek to streamline employee access and use of benefits, and drive employee recruitment, engagement and productivity by consolidating benefits within the next 12 months. Although 86% are satisfied with their current health and medical benefit offerings, they are inundated with the management of 49 or more narrowly focused, condition-specific point solutions.

Solutions that address a broad range of conditions, deliver high-quality care and are personalized to an employee’s specific health concerns can strengthen employee satisfaction and contribute to better health outcomes. However, most employees and their families lack access to the continuum of specialty care, from allergies and migraines to more serious conditions such as cancer and ALS.

Among the other findings:

• Nearly 35% of the HR leaders surveyed currently do not offer virtual specialty care.
• Of those that do, less than half are satisfied with the quality, breadth of medical specialties covered and cost of the benefit.
• Satisfaction with current specialty care benefits is significantly lower for large companies with between 5,000 and15,000 employees, as well as publicly-owned companies.
• As HR leaders explore benefits consolidation opportunities, they are focused on comprehensive, high-quality solutions, with 86% of leaders looking to add virtual specialty care to their benefits strategies.
• More than one-third of HR and benefits leaders believe virtual specialty care could address employee needs when it comes to personal choice of specialist, breadth of care options and ease of access to specialty care.

Related: Virtual health care investments on the rise, study finds

“Consolidating into a broad, integrated platform that provides high-quality access to leading specialist expertise across any health question helps employees get the personalized longitudinal support they need to make good decisions that result in better health outcomes,” Flannery said.