Always on the lookout for ways to improve efficiency and cut costs, American employers, both large and small, are increasingly embracing telemedicine as a cost-effective way to keep their employees healthy and productive.
For large-scale employers, the trend has been toward an increase in on-site telemedicine facilities where employees can access the counsel of medical professionals concerning pressing health issues. For small and medium-size businesses, the emphasis has been on providing easy access to insurer-covered telemedicine services as part of their health care benefits package.
Regardless of which path they may take, employers generally are showing far greater interest in the real and potential benefits of telemedicine than was the case only a few years ago. This reflects a growing realization that many of the most common health issues facing employees today can be successfully resolved via telemedicine at far lower costs than would be incurred if they were treated through traditional health care services.
Large Employers in the Lead
Brian Marcotte, president and chief executive officer of the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), recently reported to the National Press Club on the results of a survey of its members. NBGH represents about 425 large businesses, including big public-sector employers as well as a number of Fortune 500 companies.
Marcotte said that the results from his nonprofit organization’s survey suggest that in 2017 90 percent of NBGH’s members will be making telemedicine services available to workers in states where such services are permissible. This would represent an increase from the 70 percent of NBGH members who are already providing their employees with such services. He went on to state that he expects all member companies to be providing telemedicine services to their employees by 2020.
Focus Is Now on Delivery of Care
Marcotte said his group’s member companies indicated in their survey responses that they see little additional savings to be gained by further tweaking of health plan design. Rather, they seem to be turning their attention to “optimizing how health care is accessed and delivered,” he said.
However, while large employers seem to be embracing telemedicine, based on the results of NBGH’s most recent survey, it looks as though it will take a bit longer to convince employees of the new technology’s many benefits. Despite the growing availability of telemedicine services through NBGH member companies, only about 1 percent of employees availed themselves of the services in 2015. While that percentage grew to 3 percent by mid-2016, it’s apparent that employers will have to do a much better job of selling telemedicine’s benefits to their employees to fully realize the cost savings the companies seek.
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American Well Survey
An earlier survey conducted by American Well, one of the nation’s largest telemedicine providers, produced results similar to those found in the NBGH survey. In the final quarter of 2015, American Well surveyed 240 employers in an attempt to identify the factors driving the move toward telemedicine and to see “what employer telehealth looks like today” and how it might change going forward.
While NBGH’s survey focused entirely on large employers, American Well talked to benefits managers at a broader range of employer sizes. Forty-two percent of those surveyed were benefits managers for small employers, those with less than 1,000 employees, while 23 percent represented mid-size employers with 1,000 to 5,000 employees. Thirty-five percent of those surveyed worked for large employers, those with more than 5,000 employees.
One-Third of Employers on Board
At the time of American Well’s survey, taken in the final quarter of 2015, roughly one-third of all American employers were offering some form of telehealth services as part of their health care benefits packages. Among large employers, the percentage offering telehealth services was 39 percent, while among mid-sized employers, 35 percent were offering some form of telehealth benefit. That percentage fell to 29 percent among smaller employers.
Responses to American Well’s survey indicated that 49 percent of the two-thirds of employers who were not yet offering telehealth services to their employees in 2015 planned to do so in 2016. Another 8 percent of the employers not yet offering telehealth benefits said they had no plans to do so in the foreseeable future, while 45 percent said they were unsure what they would do in terms of telemedicine benefits.
Cutting Costs Is Top Goal
American Well queried benefits managers about the factors driving the move to telemedicine. By far the single biggest reason cited by respondents — 81 percent — was to reduce their companies’ medical costs. Close behind and cited by 78 percent of respondents was improving employee access to health care. Fifty-nine percent of respondents said they were adding telehealth benefits to make employees happy, while 53 percent said they believe adding these benefits would improve employee productivity. Twenty-two percent of the survey’s respondents said that they hoped telehealth benefits would help to attract new talent.
Among employers who said they were unsure about which way to go on telemedicine, 38 percent said they worried that employees might overuse the telehealth benefit, increasing overall costs rather than reducing them. Thirty-six percent of the employers uncertain about what to do on telemedicine said they want to offer such benefits but are waiting for them to be incorporated into existing health plans rather than adding them as stand-alone benefits. Twenty-six percent of employers hesitating to add telehealth benefits said that they are waiting to evaluate other employers’ telemedicine experiences.
Urgent Care Top Area of Use
American Well’s survey of benefits managers indicate that 70 percent of respondents see urgent care as the biggest area of use for telemedicine services. Other major uses for telehealth services are behavioral health, cited by 50 percent of respondents; diet and nutrition services, 46 percent; general health assessments, 42 percent; diabetes counseling, 40 percent; and smoking cessation, 39 percent.
In yet another recent development on the telehealth front, telemedicine services are being expanded to take full advantage of the increasing sophistication of the technology used to provide these services. Up until now, telemedicine providers have confined their services primarily to routine health issues, such as sore throat, earache, upper respiratory infection, and upset stomach.
Second-Opinion Telemedicine
Crain’s Detroit Business, which covers the business scene in Michigan’s largest city, recently reported that telemedicine technology is increasingly being used to provide second opinions in cases involving major surgery and complex chronic diseases. The report indicated that telemedicine consultations to solicit second opinions are increasing in cases involving breast cancer, back surgery, hysterectomy, mastectomy, medication changes, and neurological disorders.
The magazine’s report said some of the leading players in the realm of second-opinion telemedicine include Advance Medical, Best Doctors, and 2ndMD. In an interview with Jay Greene, a senior reporter for Crain’s Detroit Business, Kirk Rosin, chief strategy officer for 2ndMD, said, “We focus on the more-complex situations.” Rosin said the Houston-based company was formed in 2011 by CEO Clint Philips, a chiropractor from South Africa.
Personal Crisis Prompted Action
According to Rosin, Philips was moved to create a telehealth company specializing in second opinions after he encountered difficulty in developing a neurological treatment plan for his infant daughter who had suffered a stroke. “He felt no one should have to wait and travel distances to get their medical questions answered,” said Rosin. Today, 2ndMD has an advisory panel made up of 400 physicians covering 120 recognized medical subspecialties. As of mid-2016, the telemedicine provider had more than 50 large-employer clients.
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