{"id":16953,"date":"2016-09-10T13:11:37","date_gmt":"2016-09-10T20:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.accessrx.com\/blog\/?p=16953"},"modified":"2016-09-10T13:11:37","modified_gmt":"2016-09-10T20:11:37","slug":"more-employers-embracing-telemedicine-benefits-for-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.edrugstore.com\/blog\/current-health-news\/more-employers-embracing-telemedicine-benefits-for-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"More Employers Embracing Telemedicine Benefits for Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Telemedicine\"
More employers now offer telemedicine as part of their employee benefit plan.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Telemedicine is gaining importance as an employee benefit.<\/p>\n

Multiple surveys and studies show that telemedicine is being offered by an increasing percentage of employers<\/a>, with around one-third of employers overall offering telehealth benefits. Among larger organizations, the numbers go up even more. Consider that in 2014, only 22% of employers offered telemedicine as an employee benefit.<\/p>\n

Of those employers who did not offer telehealth benefits as of 2015, around half planned to add it as a benefit in 2016. Only 6% of employers have no plans to offer telemedicine as an employee benefit. A Willis Towers Watson study from 2015<\/a> found that telemedicine has the potential to save US employers up to $6 billion annually in healthcare costs, yet employee adoption of telemedicine has been somewhat slow. Though people are used to using technology in almost every aspect of life, they’re still not quite sure which medical issues are appropriate for telemedicine. But that’s changing as people realize the convenience and the tremendous time and money savings that come from using telemedicine as part of overall family healthcare.<\/p>\n

Avoiding Unnecessary ER Visits Is a Big Deal<\/b><\/p>\n

One of the biggest drivers of employer healthcare costs is avoidable visits to hospital emergency departments. Misuse of emergency departments in the US represents over $30 billion in preventable spending every year!<\/p>\n

Many people think that it is mostly uninsured people who make unnecessary trips to emergency departments due to lack of other options, but the majority of ER visits by patients who have employer-sponsored health insurance are also due to non-emergencies. In other words, an employer that offers health insurance benefits is more than likely paying for unnecessary use of emergency departments, and the costs add up over the course of a year.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine can prevent many of these unnecessary ER visits simply because it is readily available around the clock. Suppose it’s nighttime during a holiday weekend and your toddler shows classic signs of another ear infection. Your healthcare choices are limited, and loading your toddler into the car, possibly arranging for care for other children, and going to an emergency department will probably use up a lot of time and money, even if you have good insurance benefits.<\/p>\n

By contrast, telemedicine allows you to “visit” a physician over a secure, Skype-like connection right from your home, for a much lower price. The benefits are tremendous.<\/p>\n

Key Benefits Employers Experience by Offering Telemedicine<\/b><\/p>\n

Sure, employees can benefit from having the option of telemedicine, but what about employers? Do they benefit from receiving telemedicine as an employee benefit? The answer is an emphatic “Yes.” For one thing, telehealth can be a great tool for containing rapidly rising medical costs without compromising care. And by improving access to care, many employers experience lower absenteeism due to the usually significant and often unpredictable amount of time an in-person doctor visit can take up. This can lead to higher productivity over time.<\/p>\n

An increasing number of employees are starting to want telemedicine, because they have read about it or used it themselves and they know how convenient and effective it can be. Finally, in a business world where attracting and retaining top talent can be a highly competitive undertaking, offering telemedicine benefits as part of a great benefit package can assist in recruiting efforts.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine within or Apart from Insurance?<\/b><\/p>\n

One question that employers considering offering telemedicine as an employee benefit must answer is whether to offer telemedicine benefits as a standalone option, or as part of the employee health insurance package. An increasing number of insurers now offer telemedicine in an effort to keep their own costs down, but it can also be offered as a standalone service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some employers choose to offer standalone telemedicine services because the insurer they use for employee major medical coverage doesn’t offer it. Others choose to offer standalone telemedicine for potential advantages it can offer. For one thing, standalone telemedicine visits can be significantly less costly than those offered through health insurance companies.<\/p>\n

Some insurers see telemedicine as another way to generate claims, and copays for telemedicine visits may equal those for in-person visits. In cases like this, there is less employee incentive to use telemedicine, unless they’re pressed for time. Moreover, many insurers don’t go out of their way to educate patients on telemedicine options, so utilization rates remain low enough that significant savings may not be realized.<\/p>\n

What Happens When Employers Make Telemedicine Free?<\/b><\/p>\n

The average cost of the 10 most common types of visits to emergency departments was >$1,233 as of 2013about $45.<\/p>\n

Suppose an employer covers the full $45 of each telemedicine visit. They still come out way ahead compared to the proportion they end up paying for emergency, urgent care, and in-person visits. The main “problem” with telemedicine is getting utilization rates up to where employees are more apt to know when to use telemedicine, and to experience for themselves the advantages of telehealth. Covering the entire cost of a telemedicine visit can boost utilization rates, because employees have basically nothing to lose by trying it.<\/p>\n

\"Telemedicine\"
Covering the costs of telemedicine visits can ultimately save employers significant money.<\/figcaption><\/figure> Employers Must Communicate the Availability of Telemedicine<\/b><\/p>\n

Employers who offer telehealth benefits must communicate clearly to their employees about the existence of this benefit, costs (if any) associated with it, whether it’s incorporated in or separate from their major medical coverage, and the types of situations that are well-suited to telemedicine visits compared to urgent care or ER visits.<\/p>\n

Telemedicine is rapidly becoming a key health benefit<\/a> offered by an increasing number of employers. These virtual medical visits allow patients with routine health issues to video chat with physicians over secure broadband 24\/7. This is terrific for families on vacation, for example, who are unfamiliar with local medical providers, and for people with routine complaints like bladder infections and allergies.<\/p>\n

People are used to using their computers and mobile devices for a range of everyday services, including banking, transportation, and shopping. Telemedicine may take a bit more time to catch on the way, say, buying from Amazon has, but if employers are diligent about communicating the value of telemedicine to their employees, they can drive utilization rates high enough to realize measurable savings in healthcare costs every year.<\/p>\n

eDrugstore.com<\/a> is dedicated to providing our readers and customers with current, accurate information about the health issues that make an impact on your life, from telemedicine to Medicare to lifestyle medications. We encourage you to browse our blog<\/a> to learn more about the health topics that make a difference in your and your family’s lives.
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Telemedicine is gaining importance as an employee benefit. Multiple surveys and studies show that telemedicine is being offered by an increasing percentage of employers, with around one-third of employers overall offering telehealth benefits. Among larger organizations, the numbers go up even more. Consider that in 2014, only 22% of employers offered telemedicine as an employee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16954,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_autoblog_aioseo_focus_keyphrase":"","_autoblog_aioseo_title":"","_autoblog_aioseo_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[189],"class_list":["post-16953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-health-news","tag-telemedicine"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t