Advancements in technology have made it easier for business to provide workers with better health care at a lower cost, and if your benefits plan hasn't caught up with the times, you could be losing money, hiring power and productivity.

One of the most popular ways businesses have been implementing technology into their benefits plans is by including telehealth options. These services allow patients to have consultations with physicians via phone or video chat, eliminating the need to travel to a physical doctor's office. Implementing telehealth services into your plan benefits can not only give your employees a more convenient health care option, but also provide a boost for your business.

Efficient health care at a lower cost

Using technology in your benefits plan follows the Next-Gen model of offering your employees equal or better quality health care for less. A study by RedQuill Consulting found that using telehealth services instead of in-person consultations could offer savings of up to $126 per visit. And the savings don't come at the expense of quality, either – the same study found that about 83 percent of patients' health problems were resolved in their first telehealth "visit," with no follow-up needed. Telehealth services can't solve every medical issue, but they can provide a less expensive option for employees with minor health problems.

A magnet for millennials

The Pew Research Center found that as of 2017, millennials are the largest generation in the work force, and if you want to attract them to your business, you'll need to provide a health care plan that fits with the technologically advanced, on-the-go lifestyle they're accustomed to. In 2015, a Salesforce study found that about 60 percent of millennials supported the use of telehealth, and that number has only continued to grow.

A study from Qualtrics found that 73 percent of millennials believe technology makes their work-life balance easier, and you can easily apply that principle to your benefits plan – by using telehealth services, an employee doesn't have to worry about finishing a project on time due to taking time off to go to the doctor for a prescription. Instead, the service they need is at their fingertips, providing them with the same convenience they experience when ordering clothes or food online. A benefits plan that's in line with the times shows potential hires that your business puts employees first and utilizes technology to find efficient solutions.

Keeping employees in the office

Employees are spending a lot of time visiting the doctor. A 2015 study by the American Journal of Managed Care found that the average visit to a physician takes 121 minutes, which includes time spent traveling to and from the facility, doing paperwork, and just waiting to be seen. In fact, only twenty minutes of that time is spent in the presence of a physician, and chances are that everything covered in that visit could be taken care of remotely.

Aside from the fact that insurance costs are higher when employees make in-person doctor's visits instead of handling their medical concerns via telehealth services, that same study found that each visit an employee makes to their PCP costs their employer about $43 in lost productivity. In other words, if every worker in a 100-person company visits the doctor four times a year (which is the national average, according to Forbes), the business could lose $17,200 annually – and that doesn't include costs associated with higher premiums. Utilizing telehealth services gives employees the option to take care of their basic medical concerns from their desk or home, saving them time and saving you money.

Modern health care for modern businesses

Adding value to your benefits plan by including telehealth services can keep your employees healthy while still keeping them out of the doctor's office. By lowering premium costs, attracting millennials, and keeping employees at work, telehealth is proving to be a necessity for any business that wants to thrive in a competitive market.

Jim Blachek flipped his traditional brokerage model in 2017 to focus solely on consulting and building value based health plans. In 2019 he co-founded a consulting only firm Dynamic Benefit Solutions and founded Local Script a transparent pharmacy and marketing organization focused on reducing employer and employee costs while supporting the local community.

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How better technology improves employees' health care experience

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