10 tips for increasing Teladoc usage

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Virtual medical care for common conditions can help keep your employees healthy and save them an unnecessary trip to the emergency room or urgent care. They can see a doctor quickly and be on the way to feeling better rather than waiting for an appointment with their primary care providers. Plus, it lowers costs to you and reduces the amount of time employees are out of the office.  We have tried and true tips from plan administrators for increasing virtual care usage.

  1. Make it part of orientation. Introduce virtual care options and encourage registration at new employee orientation. Registering and completing medical history ahead of time removes a barrier when someone wants to use it.
  1. Share a success story. When an employee’s child complained of a stomachache in the middle of the night, the employee remembered the virtual care option. She and her son called and found he had appendicitis and rushed to the hospital. The mother shared the story in the company newsletter, crediting the service with saving her child’s life. 
    The group’s usage increased 10 times after that. We find that employees who have a positive experience and share it with others encourage other employees to use the service.
  1. Offer registration incentives. Employers have offered gift cards or a chance to win a prize to employees who register. 
  1. Reduce or eliminate copays. When combined with a robust communication plan, cost shares reductions led to usage increases.
  1. Have a computer at open enrollment or a health fair to encourage registration. Once employees are registered, they’re more likely to remember to use it when an opportunity arises.
  1. Incentivize family members to register. Each family member will need an account. It takes about as long as filling out the health history paperwork at urgent care, but once it’s done, the family member is all set to use the service.
  1. Offer wellness points. If your group has a points-based wellness program, offer an incentive for registration.
  1. Dedicate office space. No one wants to talk about their nasty rash in an open office. Remove the barrier and encourage telehealth over an office visit by dedicating a private phone room in the office to talk about medical or mental health concerns with a doctor.

  2. Promote 24-Hour NurseLine. The 24-Hour NurseLine does warm transfers to virtual medical care, so if you prefer to promote just one thing, make it 24-Hour NurseLine. This removes the burden of the employee having to make a choice between the two. 

  3. Remind employees occasionally. People are most likely to use virtual care during cold and flu season—for help determining if they should go to work or if they’d infect their colleagues. It’s also beneficial the rest of the year. Consider promotions for spring allergies or for use while traveling. To help, we have ready-to-share communications on B’Link

 

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