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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Offer registration incentives. Employers have offered gift cards or
a chance to win a prize to employees who register.
- Reduce or eliminate copays. When
combined with a robust communication plan, cost shares reductions led to usage increases.
- 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.
- 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.
- Offer wellness points. If your group has a points-based
wellness program, offer an incentive for registration.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.