The future of group benefits is here, and it’s arrived in the form of Telemedicine.
Picture this: you wake up feeling groggy, sporting a sore throat, aching joints, and a fever that makes you feel like you just had the spicy habanero special at your favorite local eatery.
Ugh.
Time to call the doctors office and hope and pray you can get an appointment to get a quick diagnosis. It’s never fun – ever. But what if there was a way for you to visit with your doctor via your iPhone or iPad? What?!
YES.
Today we’re going to talking about the benefits of Telemedicine. We’re going to take you through some high-level points of a group benefit that is sweeping the nation. We’ll impart some wisdom about the who, the what, the when, the where and the why’s of Telemedicine.
What is Telemedicine?
Telemedicine, simply put, is an over the phone or a virtual video chat doctor visit. Think of how many times you’ve been sick and had to leave work to go into a doctor’s office. What if you could remove that physical equation and just talk to someone either over the phone or through video chat?
Who Offers Telemedicine?
That’s going be the HR folks, that’s going be Employee Benefit Managers, or Business Owners who want to implement a thoughtful strategic program into their employee benefits. According to a Mercer National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans, a survey consisting of more than 2,500 companies with at least 10 employees each, just about 60% of larger US employers currently offer coverage for telemedicine, allowing employees the opportunity to conduct a medical video conference with health care providers leveraging a smartphone, tablet or desktop. This constitutes a 30% increase over last year, and those numbers will continue to grow!
When Can You Use Telemedicine?
The great news, and this is one of our favorite benefits of Telemedicine, you can use it anytime – 24/7/365 – that’s the beauty of Telemedicine. Telemedicine removes a physical doctor visit or, worse, an expensive physical visit to Urgent Care or the emergency room when it’s unnecessary.
Where Can You Make Use of Telemedicine?
You can use Telemedicine from the comfort of your home, you can use the benefits of Telemedicine from your office at work you, and you can use Telemedicine while you’re in your vehicle (no driving while using Telemedicine, of course!) The fact is, you can use Telemedicine from anywhere you have a device and an internet connection!
The other great part of the benefits of Telemedicine? It’s nationwide. Even if you’re on vacation, you can use Telemedicine to conduct a quick doctor visit for common colds and other minor maladies. In our opinion, Telemedicine is the most affordable benefit that you could put in place from your employees that really has teeth to it.
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Watch Our Video on Telemedicine
About Holloway Benefit Concepts
HBC was founded in early 2011 by Ryan Holloway. After serving over 8 years on active duty in the US Marine Corps, Ryan transitioned from being a full-time marine into an HR professional in early 2003. This began a journey and awoke a passion for helping companies who value their employees. After spending time working with a COBRA and FSA Administrator, an insurance company, and a large brokerage, Ryan realized that there were more unique and creative solutions for businesses than other companies were willing or able to realize. Seizing on his own entrepreneurial spirit, Ryan set out to found an independent agency designed to provide unique and original insurance solutions. To learn more about HBC, visit https://hollowaybenefitconcepts.com/
