Survey after survey finds that people were forced to adapt to virtual care through telehealth out of necessity during the pandemic but a large majority were satisfied with the experience and enjoyed the convenience.

What is interesting is they want to continue with those video visits after the health crisis has ended - as an alternative to in-person visits.

Before the COVID-19 quarantine, telehealth was an after-thought mentioned in a few employee healthcare benefit plans but now... telehealth seems to be here to stay. 

From the National Institute of Health study: 

"All patients reported overall satisfaction with video visits, with the majority interested in continuing to use video visits as an alternative to in-person visits. The primary benefits cited were convenience and decreased costs."

Medical Economics reports: 

"65% say it is because the visits are more convenient than meeting their physician in an office, while 63% say they like not having to worry about being exposed to other potentially sick patients. A further 44% say they think it is easier to make a telehealth appointment, and 38% say they like how streamlined follow-ups and communications after the appointment are, according to the survey."

J.D Power's survey really sends the message that telehealth will be around for a long time: 

"The overall patient satisfaction score across all telehealth providers came in at 860 on a 1,000-point scale, the survey of about 4,300 individuals who had used telehealth. This is one of the highest patient satisfaction scores for a healthcare services study J.D. Power has ever done."

Most experts say that telehealth is now part of the “new normal” due in large part to the high patient satisfaction the technology has created. Nearly everyone has smartphone these days and are comfortable using the available features - including cameras and apps like FaceTime. 

Employers Seeing the Telehealth Benefits

Telehealth has also presented a breakthrough when it comes to preventing or triaging injuries that occur in the workplace by providing reasonable access to care.

On-the-job injuries affect both the company as well as the employee. Companies face a loss of productivity but the worker must deal with repeated visits for diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up that account for lost wages, gas, parking, and many more intangibles. 

Telehealth improves the chances employees will not only seek treatment—sometime before an injury gets worse—but that they'll show up for their virtual care visits and follow-ups, speeding up the recovery process and cutting down time away from work.   

Half of Workers' Comp executives surveyed say telehealth helps them control healthcare costs and 30% say it helps improve outcomes. 

Consider this scenario: 

An employee is working at a remote facility and develops an irritating rash on her arm. She must stop whatever work she is doing, clock out, and drive to the nearest urgent medical care location. 

However, with a telehealth solution in place, she can reach out remotely to an occupational health specialist who can review the rash and then determine next steps (go to urgent care or provide a treatment plan). This allows the employee to stay on location, saving time and money, and possibly allow her to go back to work. 

The telehealth option also allows the specialist to review working conditions so that they can give a more complete diagnosis and even may be able to prevent this from happening again to her or her coworkers. 

Benefits of Occupational Telehealth

The scenario above is just one simple example and all the various situations and we know every company is different. But it does show the benefits of being able to provide easy access to remote care - companies most certainly will save on healthcare costs while improving productivity. And their employees will save time, money, and allow them avoid lost work days. 

Giving employees the right level of care, faster and more conveniently than ever before, is a proven way to boost morale and job satisfaction as well help your company attract better talent. 

Telehealth virtual visits are less expensive, quickly provide the right level of healthcare at any location, give easy access to that care, and can even prevent future incidents with immediate reviews of working conditions. 

Virtual Visits for Occupational Health

Interested in how Healthy Roster can help your company take advantage of virtual care for your employees to keep workers safe (and happier), lower those healthcare costs, and reduce lost work days? Talk to us today!