ADVERTORIAL CONTENT FROM KAISER PERMANENTE - September 2020
Managing Your Business While Providing Quality Care To Your Employees
With the challenges created by COVID-19, it’s more important than ever that businesses choose their health care partner wisely. Two healthcare concerns that are important to businesses and employees are convenient care and better management of chronic conditions.
Convenient care
Avoiding unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 means it’s vital to give employees convenient access to routine care, while allowing them to work safely at home. Businesses should consider more telehealth options. Phone and video visits, app-based wellness resources, and online prescription refills can help meet rapidly changing employee expectations. According to HealthLeaders, an online healthcare news source, consumers are embracing telehealth services at a record pace. During the first quarter of 2020 alone, consumer demand for telehealth options surged by 92% compared with last year.1
“Among all health plan members, 48 percent say they are either very or somewhat likely to consider telehealth options. That number jumps to 51 percent among Generation Y members. Additionally, 32 percent of all health plan members visited urgent care facilities. Digital access to personal health data and improved coordination of care could encourage further use of these lower-cost treatment channels.” 2
Employees that are isolated, working outside of normal routines, and away from co-workers may experience additional stress. However, in times of social distancing, there are online tools that can help. For example, the myStrength app empowers employees to feel in control of their self-care routine. Through this app, employees can use a range of personalized programs to bolster mental health and access help that deals specifically with anxiety around COVID-19.
Convenient access to regular care isn’t just important during COVID-19 — it’s also key to reducing your long-term costs. The integrated health care model gives employees timely preventive care to avoid potential health issues and makes medical history available to their entire care team. This helps to provide care with fewer errors, less waste, and less expense.
Better management of chronic conditions
Chronic conditions like obesity and high blood pressure can bring on high costs to businesses due to expensive and potential long-term treatments and prescription drugs.
Prevention — Timely screenings for conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and colorectal cancer can detect problems before they become serious for your employees. Screenings help your employees stay healthy and help you reduce or avoid absenteeism.
Condition management — Chronic conditions are among the leading drivers of health care costs for employers. For healthier employees and fewer sick days, consider plans that offer dedicated programs and resources to help your employees stay on top of their chronic conditions.
Employee health engagement -- Employees who are actively involved in their health have better outcomes when they get sick. They also save you money. Look for health plans that give your employees tools and wellness programs that help them take an active role in their well-being.
Learn more at kp.org/choosebetter
1 Jack O’Brien, “Teladoc health visits jump 92% in Q1, revenue tops $180M,” HealthLeaders, April 29, 2020.
2 Jeff Lagasse, “Health Plan Customer Satisfaction Challenged by New Era of Empowered Healthcare Consumers,” Healthcare Finance, May 10, 2019.
3 Wullianallur Raghupathi and Viju Raghupathi, “An Empirical Study of Chronic Diseases in the United States: A Visual Analytics Approach to Public Health,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, March 15, 2018.
4”Health and Economic Costs of Chronic Diseases,” CDC, cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm, accessed May 14, 2020.
5 Rabah Kamal, Cynthia Cox, and Daniel McDermott, “What are the recent and forecasted trends in prescription drug spending?” Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker, February 20, 2019.
6Kim Franks, “The evolution of patient engagement,” Becker’s Health IT, January 23, 2019. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/the-evolution-of-patient-engagement.html
Convenient care
Avoiding unnecessary exposure to COVID-19 means it’s vital to give employees convenient access to routine care, while allowing them to work safely at home. Businesses should consider more telehealth options. Phone and video visits, app-based wellness resources, and online prescription refills can help meet rapidly changing employee expectations. According to HealthLeaders, an online healthcare news source, consumers are embracing telehealth services at a record pace. During the first quarter of 2020 alone, consumer demand for telehealth options surged by 92% compared with last year.1
“Among all health plan members, 48 percent say they are either very or somewhat likely to consider telehealth options. That number jumps to 51 percent among Generation Y members. Additionally, 32 percent of all health plan members visited urgent care facilities. Digital access to personal health data and improved coordination of care could encourage further use of these lower-cost treatment channels.” 2
Employees that are isolated, working outside of normal routines, and away from co-workers may experience additional stress. However, in times of social distancing, there are online tools that can help. For example, the myStrength app empowers employees to feel in control of their self-care routine. Through this app, employees can use a range of personalized programs to bolster mental health and access help that deals specifically with anxiety around COVID-19.
Convenient access to regular care isn’t just important during COVID-19 — it’s also key to reducing your long-term costs. The integrated health care model gives employees timely preventive care to avoid potential health issues and makes medical history available to their entire care team. This helps to provide care with fewer errors, less waste, and less expense.
Better management of chronic conditions
Chronic conditions like obesity and high blood pressure can bring on high costs to businesses due to expensive and potential long-term treatments and prescription drugs.
- Nearly half (approximately 45%, or 133 million) of all Americans suffer from at least one chronic condition.3
- Chronic diseases account for nearly 75 % of aggregate healthcare spending, or an estimated $5300 per person annually in the US.3
- More than two thirds of all deaths are caused by one or more of these five chronic diseases2:
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Stroke
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Diabetes.
- 90% of the nation’s $3.5 trillion in annual health care expenditures are for people with chronic and mental health conditions.4
- Prices for common generic drugs have dropped by 37% since 2014, while branded drug prices have increased by over 60% in the United States. Specialty drugs are commonly used for the treatment of complex, chronic, or rare conditions5
Prevention — Timely screenings for conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and colorectal cancer can detect problems before they become serious for your employees. Screenings help your employees stay healthy and help you reduce or avoid absenteeism.
Condition management — Chronic conditions are among the leading drivers of health care costs for employers. For healthier employees and fewer sick days, consider plans that offer dedicated programs and resources to help your employees stay on top of their chronic conditions.
Employee health engagement -- Employees who are actively involved in their health have better outcomes when they get sick. They also save you money. Look for health plans that give your employees tools and wellness programs that help them take an active role in their well-being.
Learn more at kp.org/choosebetter
1 Jack O’Brien, “Teladoc health visits jump 92% in Q1, revenue tops $180M,” HealthLeaders, April 29, 2020.
2 Jeff Lagasse, “Health Plan Customer Satisfaction Challenged by New Era of Empowered Healthcare Consumers,” Healthcare Finance, May 10, 2019.
3 Wullianallur Raghupathi and Viju Raghupathi, “An Empirical Study of Chronic Diseases in the United States: A Visual Analytics Approach to Public Health,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, March 15, 2018.
4”Health and Economic Costs of Chronic Diseases,” CDC, cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/costs/index.htm, accessed May 14, 2020.
5 Rabah Kamal, Cynthia Cox, and Daniel McDermott, “What are the recent and forecasted trends in prescription drug spending?” Peterson-Kaiser Family Foundation Health System Tracker, February 20, 2019.
6Kim Franks, “The evolution of patient engagement,” Becker’s Health IT, January 23, 2019. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/healthcare-information-technology/the-evolution-of-patient-engagement.html
