Mar 09, 2022
After a spectacular rise in the use of telehealth during the pandemic, the trend is leveling off. However, it remains an important tool to increase employees’ access to care.
Who Uses Telehealth?
The Integrated Benefits Institute (IBI) analyzed survey data from 2020 and 2021 to reveal the following:
- Men use virtual care less
- People from 18 to 24 years are the least likely to use virtual care, along with those with a high school education or less
- Employees in the Northeast and West use virtual care more. The highest use is in urban areas while the lowest is in rural areas
- Employees who use virtual care the most have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or anxiety and/or depression
- Video is more popular than the phone for virtual care
Employers should review utilization data to make sure that virtual care is filling the gaps in health care access including geographic and financial. Employers should also look at outcomes and the quality of care. They should ask these questions:
- Which populations are using it the most and the least?
- Are we filling network inadequacies with virtual options?
- Are virtual options eliminating financial, geographic, or ethnic barriers to care?
- Are members using national vendors (if offered) or their own doctors?
- Does using virtual care improve leaves or PTO use?
A Focus on Total Wellbeing
IBA says that employers can improve virtual care by expanding it to all pillars of wellbeing. They can work toward a medical home model that addresses physical, emotional, financial, and social needs. Employers can educate employees and their families about virtual care options in creative ways like sending refrigerator magnets or postcards with QR codes.
