As leading employers add virtual care to their healthcare plans, the virtual healthcare industry is moving into its next phase to meet patient needs. Developing effective strategies to encourage employees to use virtual care benefits employers and employees alike. - BY Peter Scott

A virtual care program is only as good as its utilization. As large employers add virtual healthcare options to their healthcare benefits, they want to encourage maximum use to reduce healthcare costs while improving employee health. Strategies to encourage employees to use telehealth services must focus on meeting needs, like offering family care and preventing or managing chronic care conditions. It is also important to make telehealth accessible during the workday and to offer different digital options that suit a multigenerational workforce. Improving employee health with virtual care by leveraging strategies like these creates a win-win for employers and employees alike.

Supporting Holistic Health Care By Adding Virtual Health Support Options

When telehealth first appeared, it mainly involved virtual doctor appointments for minor issues like the flu or a cold. A lot has changed in a few short years. Personalized virtual care programs can now include nutrition plans, fitness routines, stress management techniques, disease prevention, and chronic pain management. Most virtual care programs today enable access to self-care resources via a mobile app.

Amazon has a holistic health benefits program, and to no one’s surprise, technology plays an important role. In addition to comprehensive benefits covering in-person medical, dental, and vision coverages, Amazon offers virtual health. Employees and their families can access a virtual Medical Advice Line for free 24/7 to talk to a nurse about health issues. They can also access mental health care 24/7 through the app Twill, which offers a digital, self-guided mental health program that also provides mood tracking, science-backed games, and activities for employees and family members. Additionally, Amazon employees can access a virtual pain prevention and management mobile app-based resource called Hinge. The program includes treatments and exercises. Most large companies offer their employees virtual healthcare and wellness opportunities as a means to expand coverage while reducing costs. Walmart, for example, has said it reduced the total cost of employee care by 11% by launching a virtual primary care program. The expansive virtual care program offers telehealth for routine care and specialist consults, virtual urgent care and therapy, mental health benefits, and chronic care prevention and management.

Structuring Virtual Healthcare To Offer Maximum Benefits To All Parties

Virtual care is not only for large businesses. It can also benefit small-to-medium-sized businesses. Numerous virtual care businesses serve different business markets, and there are different approaches. Employers can offer telemedicine, which focuses on routine healthcare issues, or offer virtual healthcare, which is holistic. Another type of program is Mercer’s Virtual First Care, which functions entirely through telecommunications and digital technologies and does not have a brick-and-mortar facility.

Of course, telemedicine is not a replacement for traditional in-person care when needed. It focuses more on the one-time visit for a minor issue like cold or flu. Virtual healthcare is different than telemedicine. It is holistic and may include features like mental health counseling, wellness programs, urgent care, chronic care management, and much more. Employees can access counselors and specialists, wear remote medical monitoring devices, and get specialized care delivery for many conditions. The benefits of expanding care accrue to both sides of the arrangement. An Omada Health and the Digital Medicine Society survey found that 53% of employers and plans believe virtual care can improve patient care and outcomes. Plus, a study comparing direct-to-consumer telemedicine services to in-care services for medical center employees found that the per-usage cost for employees and family members decreased by 23%, and usage marginally increased. The researchers concluded that telemedicine may reduce overall costs, while employees taking better care of themselves use less sick leave and are more productive.

Virtual Care Is Only As Effective as Utilization

Despite the many advantages of accessing virtual care, the health program is only effective if employees use it. According to one survey, employee utilization of virtual healthcare remains low, sitting at around 20%.

There are many reasons people shy away from utilizing the services. For example, some employees are worried about privacy or may have low digital competence and are uncomfortable using technology to discuss health issues.

Any strategy to increase adoption should address these concerns and train employees on how to use the technology. Virtual healthcare is not a replacement for in-person care, and it is crucial to communicate that to ease fears they are giving up benefits. The opposite is true, with app-based options often dramatically expanding 24/7 availability of mental health care, counseling, and crisis support.

Presented in this light, employees may come to see virtual healthcare as a supplementary tool that enables them to access care they had trouble previously accessing, like doctor appointments that are months out or assistance with monitoring and managing a chronic health condition. Virtual healthcare can reduce time-consuming and stressful emergency visits to free-standing clinics or emergency rooms for issues that are usually not critical, like a severe headache or the flu. It also makes it more likely employees do not leave medical issues untreated, leading to more missed work time and potentially catastrophic developments.

The Virtual Care company Telacare found that most high-cost claimants had few benefits claims before a significant health event. One reason is the inconvenience of making an appointment, taking time off work, and keeping the appointment. It usually takes 24-32 days to see a non-emergency doctor, which is quite a long time to endure painful or worsening symptoms. Another critical point is that people with conditions like chronic pain are more likely to experience mental health challenges like depression and anxiety.

Some companies are even going so far as creating private spaces where employees can hold telemedicine sessions to make access even easier. This is especially helpful for people who cannot afford to take time off to address a minor health issue or want direction from a healthcare professional about the next steps for managing something more complex.

Engaging Employees in Self-Care of Their Health

Adding telemedicine or virtual healthcare to organizational benefits plans makes sense in the digital age. Employers can improve access to healthcare for their employees, enhance overall well-being, reduce healthcare costs, and foster a healthier, more productive workforce. Employees can access private, 24/7 availability of health support systems, often at the tap of a phone screen, making it more convenient to care for themselves and easier to address chronic or emerging health concerns. Thus, virtual healthcare is an employee engagement resource that is expected to become more attractive as the digitally experienced generations with a self-care focus grow in the labor force and healthcare costs continue to rise.