hiu-digital.com | HIU 49

treatment for minor conditions, resulting

in lost productivity and unnecessary costs

for themselves and/or their employers. As

for doctors, they may be forced to rush

them through their ofces in order to keep

up with the increased demand.

What about afer hours? We expect to

see an increasing number of individuals

going to urgent care clinics and ERs if

they can’t get in to see a doctor, resulting

in even greater costs.

Te American Medical Association

states that 70% of doctor’s ofce visits can

be handled over the phone and 50% of ER

visits are non emergencies. Telehealth’s

savings in claim costs range from $300 per

year for a single employee or more than

$1,000 per year for a family of four.1

Te bottom line is clear: Te healthcare

industry has changed and it will contin

ue to become more antiquated, inefcient

and costly unless there is change. It’s the

perfect storm for innovative solutions.

According to Towers Watson: “Over the

next fve years…nearly half the employ

ers expect a signifcant or transformative

change. More specifcally, 49% expect

more healthcare price transparency and

45% expect to see new access points for

healthcare delivery, such as telemedicine,

e visits and data enabled kiosks.”2

A SENSIBLE SOLUTION THAT IS

AVAILABLE TODAY

Te telehealth industry, as it relates to

individuals and the workplace, has been in

development for more than 12 years, fne

tuning itself to deliver quality care when

and where it’s needed. Currently, there are

close to 8 million individuals with tele

health benefts paid for by their employer.

Companies such as Accenture, Te Home

Depot, Amazon, Metro PCS, AT&T, Penske,

CalPERS and some insurance companies

have been ofering telehealth.

Why is telehealth gaining so momen

tum? It addresses the three biggest issues

in healthcare today:

• Timely Access

• Lower Costs

• Quality Care

Te established telehealth providers

ofer access to experienced, licensed,

board certifed physicians 24 hours a day,

seven days a week. If individuals have a

minor illness, they can talk to a doctor

by phone or online, receive a diagnosis

and treatment, including a prescription if

needed, all within an hour. Minor health

illnesses include:

• Sinusitis

• Cold

• Flu

• Headache

• Stomach ache

• Respiratory infection

• Urinary tract infection

• Pink eye

• Ear infection

• Cough

• Allergy

Te doctors from the established tele

health frms typically derive from primary

care, internal medicine, emergency room

or pediatric practices, with an average

of 15 years experience. Tey have been

thoroughly vetted and have undergone

extensive peer reviews and the full creden

tialing process.

Most of them are practicing physicians,

like your own family doctor, and dedicate

extra time for these consultations.

Some programs ofer more expanded

services, such as access to specialists who

respond to medical questions via email,

ofen sending links to articles and videos

designed to educate consumers and help

them manage their health.

It is essential to understand that tele

health is not meant to replace primary

care physicians. In fact, telehealth doctors

encourage patients to see their doctor and

get their wellness exams and lab work

completed. Tey can even send their tel

ephonic or online consult records directly

to the patient’s physician. Tey simply

provide an efcient and cost efective

solution for those with minor health

conditions who can’t get to a doctor in a

timely manner.

It’s a win for all. Individuals save time

and money. Employers can see tremen

dous reductions in absenteeism, leading

to increased productivity. Self funded

TELEHEALTH

50 HIU | hiu-digital.com

companies can see immediate savings to

their bottom line.

According to Absenteeism: Te Bottom

Line Killer, a publication of workforce

solution company Circadian, unscheduled

absenteeism costs roughly $3,600 per year

for each hourly worker and $2,650 each

year for salaried employees.

Te Gallup Healthways Well Being

Index surveyed 94,000 workers across 14

major occupations in the U.S. Of the 77%

of workers who ft the survey’s defnition of

having a chronic health condition (asthma,

cancer, depression, diabetes, heart attack,

high blood pressure, high cholesterol or

obesity), the total annual costs related to

lost productivity totaled $84 billion.3

Typical results from a prominent tele

health frm from 2013 showed the following:

• 125,000 medical consults

• 91% of patient issues resolved

• 97% member satisfaction rating

• Average wait time: 24 minutes

• Redirection of care:

• 43% would have gone to doctor

• 34% would have used an urgent care

clinic

• 8% would have visited the ER

When factoring in the costs saved by

redirecting care and keeping the employee

at work, our calculations show that each

call to a telehealth doctor will save an

employer close to $240.4

When you look at the math, the num

bers are staggering.

If it’s really that efective, some people

may inquire: Ten why isn’t everyone

using telehealth as part of their cost

containment strategy? It’s a good question.

Te answer is quite simple: Te potential

for these results is clearly evident, but the

actual results are based on utilization,

which has garnered lower results.

Tere are several reasons utilization has

not met expectations. Te frst is that most

telehealth providers sell “access” to their

service at a low fee and then charge $35 $40

to the employee for the medical consult.

Te problem here is telehealth is still

a new technology and employees seem

reluctant to pay for a phone consult when

they don’t quite understand the beneft.

Tis brings up the other problem,

which is educating the employee about

telehealth what is it and how to use it.

In years to come, as telehealth becomes

as mainstream as social media, individuals

may not mind paying $35 or more to get

immediate access to a doctor by phone, es

pecially if they have a high deductible plan

and/or don’t have the time to visit a doctor.

But, today, that isn’t the case. Telehealth is

still relatively unknown to most individu

als, not to mention to most employers.

What is needed today to make a tele

health beneft a success story is simple.

It’s the same thing all corporate wellness

directors have attempted for the last 25

years. It’s all about changing behavior.

It is far more difcult to change be

havior when trying to get employees to

change their diets and go to the gym. It

isn’t so difcult to change behavior when

introducing a telehealth beneft.

• Te frst thing to do is change the busi

ness model. Build the doctor’s fee in

to the monthly cost of the program so

employees don’t have to pay anything to

call a doctor. Eliminate the barrier. What

do they have to lose?

• Create an awareness building campaign

that includes regular monthly remind

ers what is telehealth, when should it be

used, what conditions can it treat, how to

access a doctor, seasonal reminders/tips

for fu season, allergy season, summer

vacations, etc. Tose who hear about

it during open enrollment without any

follow up have long forgotten they even

have the beneft by the time they need it

several months later. It has to be the frst

thing they think about when they get sick.

• Encourage employees to share their

experiences with telehealth via internal

communication materials. Te more peo

ple who use it, the more they understand

the efciency and low cost, the more

likely they are to talk about the benefts

and remind others of the program. It is

simple for the service to gain traction in

the workplace by word of mouth.

Healthcare has changed and will con

tinue to do so. Companies will continue

to grapple with the question of what is

best for the company and what is best

for the employee. Self funded companies

will look for innovative solutions that can

have an immediate and long term impact.

For fully insured companies, there will be

changes that will result in higher deduct

ibles and many that result in employees

being told to select their own health plans.

In all cases, telehealth is a solution. Im

mediate access to care by phone or online

saves time and money and allows those

who need care the most to get in to see a

doctor. Individuals can easily save hun

dreds, if not thousands, of dollars a year

in out of pocket costs. Companies cannot

only manage healthcare costs far better,

but they can also decrease absenteeism

and increase productivity a goal they

have been working on for the last 30 years.

It’s not the future. It’s here today. HIU

1 Schultz, R. (2012, January 09). New medical

cost savings program: Telemedicine means great

discounts.

2 Employers Plan Aggressive Response to Shifing

Health Care Landscape, Towers Watson/Na

tional Business Group on Health Survey Finds.

(2013, March 07).

3 Te Causes and Costs of Absenteeism in the

Workplace. (2013, July 10).

4 Based on the following assumptions: PCP visit

$122, urgent care visit $152, ER visit $752,

time missed from work four hours @ $21.74

per hour.

TELEHEALTH