Telehealth - Best Practices
Phone the MD
1600 Highway 6, Suite 400 Sugar Land, TX 77478
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Employers and Telehealth Overview 2013 is shaping up to be a milestone year in the use of telehealth by employers. In fact, according to recent studies, employers who are best handling their medical costs are turning more and more to telehealth. For example, the consulting Group Towers Watson and the National Business Group reported in their 2013 report “Reshaping Health Care: Best Performers Leading the Way” that 22% of the “best performer” companies - leading employers who best managed their medical costs planned to implement telehealth in 2014. To compile their report, they surveyed 583 major U.S. employers to gain a detailed look at their trends and strategies. At Phone the MD, we have seen a significant growth in employer interest, coming both directly and through health plan partners. This report examines the key factors that shape employer telehealth programs, as well as best practices for implementation.
What is Telehealth? Telehealth is having a doctor visit live over the telephone, Internet and/or mobile device. Instead of physically traveling to the doctor’s office, the patient logs in, requests a consultation and then connects over a live video chat, telephone or mobile app (both Apple and Android).
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Key Benefits of Employer Telehealth Employer interest in telehealth is usually driven by these five factors: 1. Saves Money Speaking to a doctor over the phone costs about $20 per month per family versus $90 for a physical office visit, $120 or more for an urgent care facility and over $750 for the emergency room. Every time a patient/employee uses telehealth services, there’s less expenses paid. 2. Saves Time Doctor office visits usually take 2-3 hours - telehealth can take as little as 5 to 15 minutes - quite a time savings. Time that would have been taken as paid personal time off, late arrivals, early departures or long lunches. Employees can also use the telehealth service on the weekends to avoid urgent care clinics or emergency rooms. 3. Employee Conveniences Doctor visits are not much fun for most people. The entire process of missing work, taking kids out of school, taking off their clothes and explaining their problems first to the nurse and then again to the doctor is exhausting. Telehealth allows a person to sign in and speak to a doctor anytime from anywhere. The doctor can even call in any needed prescriptions to the user’s local pharmacy if appropriate. 4. Access to Better Healthcare For the employees who travel, live in underserved areas or work in rural areas, telehealth can be their fastest or even only, access to healthcare. 5. Engagement by the Employees Transformative changes to healthcare delivery have begun in earnest. As employers begin to seek more financial participation on the part of the employee, offering access to care at a lower cost is a priority for most everyone. More and more employers are adding telehealth services into their benefit packages. Online or on the telephone, telehealth has become a great choice for employees and their families. Telehealth - Phone The MD
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How Telehealth Generates Savings
Example: Employee Group of 5,000
No Treatment 10% Urgent Care 20% Emergency Room 7%
Doctor’s Office Visit 63%
Based upon 1,000 visits per month
Type of Visit
Urgent Care
# of Visits Replaced
Savings Per Visit
$ Saved
200
$120 / visit
$24,000
70
$750 / visit
$52,500
Doctor’s Office Visit
630
$ 90 / visit
$56,700
No Treatment
100
-$90 / visit
-$9,000
Work Hours (1/2
500
$50 / hour
$25,000
Savings Per Month
$149,200
Emergency Room
month)
Total Cost for entire 5,000 workforce including family members ~ $100,000 (5,000 x $20) Savings Per Month $49,200 Savings Per Year
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$590,400
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What Employers Should Look For in a Telehealth Service 1. Employee Choice A quality telehealth service should be completely clear. The doctors available for consultation should have their educational background, experience and ratings in their profiles. The employee should make their own provider decision. 2. Video, Telephone and Mobile Apps Online, over the phone or with mobile apps, it’s the employees’ choice. Anywhere, anytime quality telehealth service is a necessary requirement of all employee groups. 3. No Consultation Fees and Additional Benefits Employers are looking for the highest quality services at best prices. Phone the MD provides users with fast access to quality physicians via telehealth services for a price lower than $20 per month per family. That’s not a typo - for the less than the cost of two lunches, the entire immediate family is covered. 4. Attention to Regulation Telehealth is regulated differently in all states. Top telehealth providers only offer services via U.S. Board Certified, licensed and credentialed physicians in their state. Doctors must provide only sanctioned services as prescribed by the state’s medical boards. 5. Customer Satisfaction and Patient Issues A telehealth provider must be able to handle large amounts of patient calls. As the largest provider in the U.S., our service provider, Teladoc has over 19,000 physicians providing services to over 6 million users. With a 95% customer satisfaction ratings, our doctors handle 90% of all patient issues - online, over the phone or via mobile apps. The average wait time for a doctor is 24 minutes.
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How Our Customers Rate Our Telehealth Service
Customer Satisfaction
Consultations that Resolved the Issues
Employees Who Benefit the Most from Telehealth Everyone can benefit from telehealth services, particularly employers with certain types of employees facing certain healthcare challenges. These may include: Companies with part-time, remote, mobile and shift workers who are challenged by time and distance. This group is concerned about access to a doctor. Employees that have assumed the first dollar risk (high deductibles). Employers who provide telehealth at a reasonable price lets their employees know they are helping by limiting their healthcare costs. This group is concerned about saving money. For those companies with high waged or very knowledgeable employees, having them away from work is inconvenient and costly. This group causes the employer to think about saving time. Employers with a high percentage of white-collar workers with access to computers at work and at home, this group receives the benefits of healthcare being easier.
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Best Practices for Telehealth For employers, telehealth is one of the most exciting new benefits in years – offering real value to employees even as it saves money. Following best practices can make a major impact, both on how the service is received and how much it is used. 1. Make it available to everyone. Don’t just focus on remote workers - our experience is that office workers in city settings value and will use telehealth as much or more than rural workers. The same plan covers the entire immediate family for the same price. 2. Tell them about it! Most employers tie their telehealth services to the traditional insurance model when it comes to open enrollment. Telehealth is different - it’s online and registration is usually unrestricted. Register, call or chat with a doctor, and resolve the issues... It’s that easy. Employers need to contact their employees via newsletters, email or SMS text regarding the service. Go online versus going to the ER. 3. Send a welcome package home Delivering the opportunity to the employees electronically is at the core of a successful program. However, a good ol’ printed booklet goes a long way in informing the employees’ families at home of the product features and benefits. 4. Make room. If you want employees to use the service during working hours – when it can keep them on the job instead of at the doctor’s office – you need to provide a secure, private space. Set up a conference room with a computer, monitor and Internet connection - it helps with privacy issues that the employee may understandably have. 5. Add a link to your home page. Make it easy to find online care by putting an icon on the intranet, or even better, on computer desktops or workstations.
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6. Share the results. Employees typically rate their telehealth experience very highly – and letting others know via a eNewsletter or other internal broadcast can help stimulate the word of mouth that drives the best programs – and gets the HR Department the recognition it deserves!
One of the Most Exciting Benefits in Years Annual double digit insurance premium increases are outpacing inflation and are simply unsustainable. Employers providing coverage to their employees have no choice but to raise deductibles and raise or eliminate co-pays just to keep the annual increases in the single digits. There are some tools in the tool box such as Health Savings Accounts to help mitigate employees’ ever-growing shared financial responsibility of healthcare costs, but in our current economic state, how much more burden can employees take on? With average deductibles up to $1,500 from $500 just a few years ago and a growing number of deductibles at $2,500 and beyond, 8.5 out of 10 employees never reach their deductible. As a result, they are actively looking for alternatives to fill in the gaps and stretch their hard-earned dollars. Phone the MD was created specifically for employers to provide employees with meaningful discounts and services they might not otherwise have access to in their daily lives. In today’s world, it is difficult to find so much value for so few dollars all in one place. When you calculate what it costs to replace, train and motivate new employees, Phone the MD makes perfect sense at less than $20 per month per family.
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Access via Telephone, Internet or Mobile Apps - iPhone and Android
Computer Access iPhone or Android
Š 2013 Teladoc, Inc. All rights reserved. Teladoc and the Teladoc logo are registered trademarks of Teladoc, Inc. and may not be used without written permission. Teladoc does not replace the primary care physician. Teladoc does not guarantee that a prescription will be written. Teladoc operates subject to state regulation and may not be available in certain states. Teladoc does not prescribe DEA controlled substances, nontherapeutic drugs and certain other drugs which may be harmful because of their potential for abuse. Teladoc physicians reserve the right to deny care for potential misuse of services. Teladoc phone consultations are available 24 hours, 7 days a week while video consultations are available during the hours of 7am to 9pm, 7 days a week.
For additional information | 800-682-0554 or info@PhoneTheMD.com
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Disclosures
This plan is NOT insurance. This plan provides discounts at certain healthcare providers for medical services. This plan does not make payments directly to the providers of medical services. Pharmacy discounts range from 10% to 85% on most medications. The plan member is obligated to pay for all healthcare services but will receive a discount from those healthcare providers who have contracted with the discount plan organization. The plan is not insurance coverage and does not meet the minimum creditable coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act or Massachusetts M.G.L. c. 111M and 956 CMR 5.00. This discount card program contains a 30 day cancellation period. The range of discounts for medical or ancillary services provided under the plan will vary depending on the type of provider and medical or ancillary service received. The discount medical card program makes available, before purchase and upon request, a list of program providers, including the name, city, state, and specialty of each program provider located in the cardholder’s service area. Member shall receive a full refund of membership fees, excluding registration fee, if membership is cancelled within the first 30 days after the effective date. AR and TN residents: A refund of all fees will be issued if membership is cancelled within the first 30 days. MD Residents: The membership fee and one-time registration fee (minus $5.00) will be refunded if cancelled within the first 30 days and upon return of the discount card. Discount Medical Plan Organization: New Benefits, Ltd., Attn: Compliance Department, PO Box 671309 Dallas, TX 75367-1309, 800-800-7616. Website to obtain participating providers: www.mymemberportal.com. Not available in FL, KS, UT, VT or WA.
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