The Rise of Virtual Care in Employer Sponsored Health Care Benefits

Abstract

As healthcare costs continue to rise, employers have been actively looking at alternative options to decrease these costs, such as shifting costs to employees through consumer-driven health plans, private exchanges, accountable care organizations, and more. Due to improvements in technology, one other option that most employers are now providing to their employees through their health care benefits plans is virtual care, also known as telehealth. Virtual care provides access to a health care provider remotely through the phone, video or online, and provides physician consultation and management of chronic conditions, and other conditions as well. Employers are attracted to virtual care because of its potential to reduce costs, increase worker productivity, provide easier access to physicians, and generate savings for both employers and employees. Studies show that all large employers will cover telehealth services for their employees by 2020. Hence, it is important to know the foundation and effectiveness of virtual care. This paper will explore the rising trend of virtual care as a health benefit by providing a review of various studies of the effectiveness of virtual care on improving population health and its impact on employer-sponsored health plans. The results of these studies mainly demonstrate that telehealth is an effective alternative to traditional visits, as it provides immediate access to care, which in turn, positively impact employee productivity and satisfacti