How employers can improve access to care through telehealth
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When an employee is sick and can’t get the care they need, you feel it too. Since the pandemic, many employers have started including telehealth, or virtual care, in their medical benefits. Telehealth aims to remove barriers to care, like long wait times and provider shortages.
Supporting your employees with telehealth
In the Health Matters podcast, Wellmark’s Director of Market Solutions, Cassandra Hilton, covers the topic of telehealth. Hilton shares the data on why telehealth is a smart strategy and how employers can promote telehealth to their employees.
Read on for her answers to some of your most-asked telehealth questions.
Q: What is telehealth?
A: Telehealth is care administered without going into a physical doctor’s office but by using a phone, tablet or computer. Many local providers and health systems offer telehealth visits, and telehealth solutions, like Doctor On Demand®, are a covered benefit for many Wellmark groups.
Q: Are telehealth and virtual care the same thing?
A: In most cases, you can use the terms interchangeably. At Wellmark, virtual care is the umbrella term that includes telehealth and care employees would receive through other virtual means, like chat-based coaching.
Q: What kind of health care does telehealth provide?
A: Telehealth can include primary care visits, urgent care and mental health services like therapy or behavioral health coaching.
Q: What are the benefits of telehealth?
A: With virtual visits, your employees can see a provider from anywhere, without leaving work or home. With telehealth, your employees save time and money. Wait times for telehealth visits are significantly shorter than at an in-person urgent care facility and telehealth visits typically cost less. And, more and more, primary care providers (PCPs) are using telehealth to provide care, so your employees can still get care from a provider they know and trust.
Simplify telehealth for your employees
Help your workforce learn about the telehealth benefits available to them and get care fast with our easy-to-share telehealth benefits toolkit. The toolkit includes a flyer, an email template and an article you can share with employees. Log in to download it today at no cost.
Q: How can telehealth help my business?
A: By offering telehealth as part of your medical benefits and encouraging your employees to discuss telehealth options with their providers, your employees can get care wherever they are. The ease of doing a telehealth visit over lunch and getting the care they need quickly helps keep productivity up and urgent care and emergency room visits down, which saves you money.
Listen to the Health Matters podcast
Check out other episodes of the Health Matters podcast. Each episode features valuable insights from Wellmark experts on the trending health care topics employers care most about.
Disclosures
Doctor On Demand by Included Health physicians do not prescribe Drug Enforcement Administration-controlled substances, and may elect not to treat conditions or prescribe other medications based on what is clinically appropriate.
Doctor On Demand by Included Health is a separate company providing an online telehealth solution for Wellmark members. Doctor On Demand® is a registered mark of Included Health, Inc.
For plans that include benefits for mental health treatment, Doctor On Demand by Included Health benefits may include treatment for certain psychological conditions, emotional issues and chemical dependency. Services performed by Doctor On Demand by Included Health psychologists are covered. For more information, call Wellmark at the number on your ID card.