COVID19 is a challenge for HR on all fronts, from remote meetings to remote health to a remote OE 2021.

But HR leaders are also using this time as an opportunity for change and growth. With the work environment turned on its head and all assumptions challenged, it’s the perfect time to rethink your benefits offering.

And looking at telehealth is a great place to start. The telehealth world has exploded over the past few months and is here to stay.

Are you including telehealth in your people and pet health offerings?

Telehealth before Coronavirus

The truth is, the telehealth trend isn’t new to COVID-19.

In October 2019, eight months and a lifetime ago, Mercer released its National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2019. One of its key findings was the growing cost of health benefits for employers, outpacing overall inflation.

As you can imagine, that information corresponded with another trend: Employers looking to reduce healthcare costs without hiking up deductibles yet again. Telehealth benefits were a key part of that effort.

In fact, 88% of large employers were now offering telemedicine as part of their benefits package. However, the telehealth programs were underused. Only 9% of employees reported using them, up a scant 1% from the year before.

Figure 1 - Source: MERCER NATIONAL SURVEY OF EMPLOYER-SPONSORED HEALTH PLANS 2019

Telehealth during Coronavirus

That was then, and this is now.

The world of telehealth opened up with the advent of Corona and social distancing guidelines.

When the quarantine began, doctors and regulatory agencies alike scrambled to make telehealth more accessible. Doctors and veterinarians began offering chat, video, and email services.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the CARES Act took steps to temporarily expand telehealth for health savings account(HSA) plans. Medicare broadened its telehealth coverage. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration loosened some restrictions on veterinary telemedicine.

Consumers, trying to minimize in-person interactions, jumped on the bandwagon:

• Research by Frost and Sullivan consultants found that March telehealth visits rose 50%.
• Teladoc, a telemedicine provider, received more than 15,000 video requests PER DAY.
• Ginger, a company that connects users with behavioral health professionals for chat and video-based sessions, saw a 25% increase in therapy and psychiatry visits.

And that was just for humans. Medici, a pet telehealth company, saw remote consultations rise by 170%.

Telehealth after Coronavirus

What will happen after COVID-19? No one has a crystal ball, but experts believe that the increased demand for telehealth is here to stay.

Consumers are experiencing the benefits of telehealth firsthand, and they don’t want to give them up:

1. Less than half the cost of an office visit.
2. Takes far less time
3. Available round the clock.
4. No exposure to germs in the waiting room
5. Accessible even in rural areas

Chaya Nochomovitz, Pet Benefits Project Manager, is one of those people. She shared that for some specialist pediatric appointments, her time spent on the doctor’s visit (including travel, parking, and waiting) went down from three hours to FIFTEEN MINUTES! She’d like her doctors to continue offering telehealth as an option even when COVID disappears.

And the doctors very well might do that. They see increased administrative efficiency in their practices from better triage with telehealth. And they see the clinical benefits of meeting patients where they are.

From an HR perspective, employees are going to want telehealth to be a foundation of their benefits plans. That’s great news for employers, many of whom were offering telehealth benefits anyway.

And if they weren’t, then now is the time to start!

Telehealth for pets

WhiskerDocs, a 24/7 veterinary telehealth service provider, is seeing the spike firsthand. They’re fielding questions in all areas, from signs of illness to behavior, toxic ingestions, guidance about nutrition, and more. Nicole Rogers, VP of Operations, attributes the increase to a few factors:

• Social distancing, of course
• Reduced veterinary hours
• Discomfort with “parking lot handoff” protocols for live veterinary visits
• People noticing the finer details about their pets’ behavior as they’ve spent more time with them.

She expects the veterinary telehealth increase will only continue.

What does that mean for HR? It means pet benefits are more important than ever.

Rogers points out that, “Adoption rates soared during the pandemic, and people forged deeper bonds with their existing and new furry family members.” Employees are looking out for their pets’ wellness. Pet health plans, especially including telehealth benefits, will be a big draw.

Are you offering telehealth benefits for your pet parents? Pet Benefit Solutions plan options include access to WhiskerDoc’s 24/7 pet helpline.

You can’t change COVID19, but you can control how we react to it. Crisis or opportunity?

It’s up to you!