Medssenger Team
According to an annual survey by the National Business Group on Health, a growing number of large U.S. employers plan to focus more on how healthcare is delivered in order to combat the rising healthcare benefit costs. While these employers are still pursuing traditional methods of cutting expenses such as cost-sharing and plan design changes, many have started looking at using telehealth to significantly reduce healthcare costs while offering competitive services and benefits that their employees value. For instance, many employers’ return on investment numbers show that telehealth is extremely effective at replacing higher-cost care settings, such as urgent care and emergency rooms.
The Large Employers’ 2018 Health Care Strategy and Plan Design Survey found that nearly all employers (96 percent) will make telehealth services available next year in states where regulations allow. More than half of the employers plan to offer telehealth for behavioral health services. Overall, telehealth utilization continues to be gaining traction in 2018.
Medssenger’s capabilities allow for telemonitoring, moving care to the home or work, and enhancing the overall primary care experience. The efficient communication and coordination platform of Medssenger offers an innovative solution and approach that these large employers are looking for: a way to cut down healthcare costs while still maintaining the quality of care that its employees expect and demand along with enhanced productivity.
The projected increase in telehealth adoption by large employers is part of the larger trend that involves the continuing shift to value-based care. Healthcare experts from organizations such as Cedars-Sinai, CVS Health, Blue Cross NC, and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care continue to be optimistic about the future of value-based care and emphasize the importance of focusing on the consumer and having a firm commitment to improving the patient experience. Medssenger’s patient-centered mission is very much in tune with these philosophies and with the direction the healthcare industry is headed.