When the weather gets cooler, cold and flu season heats up resulting in more illnesses throughout the country. The U.S. economy spends an estimated $84 billion on sick days annually, yet nearly 90 percent of employees still go to work when they’re sick. While a doctor visit can be inconvenient and costly, the decision to go to work sick results in the spread of germs to others, more sick employees, a less productive workplace and higher company costs to compensate. Either way, sick days spent in or out of the office greatly impacts business.
Yet there is a solution that can speed the healing process and slow the drain of revenue lost on sick employees. AllyHealth is a benefits program that offers telehealth, the fastest growing segment of the healthcare industry designed to reduce employee sick days and increase productivity by making medical care easily accessible, more efficient and more affordable. Telehealth provides 24/7 access via phone and online to board certified doctors who can diagnose and treat employees over the phone or online, and even write prescriptions. In fact, the American Medical Association notes as many as 70 percent of all doctor visits could potentially be handled over the phone, diagnosing and treating common health issues such as colds, flus, respiratory infections, allergies, pink eye, headaches, stomach aches, asthma and more.
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Employers prefer AllyHealth’s telehealth service because it reduces absenteeism, allowing employees to easily treat a health problem quickly and reduce the chance of more sick employees, overall healthcare costs, and quickly shows significant ROI. Last year, more than 91 percent of all calls or online video consultations resulted in a diagnosis and a treatment. Of those, nearly 53 percent would have left work to see a doctor resulting in tens of thousands of dollars saved and a 100 percent ROI with as little as 15 – 20 percent employee utilization.
Employees enjoy the service because it can save them hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year in out of pocket expenses, and it is extremely convenient to access a board-certified doctor for a diagnosis and prescription to take care of the sickness quickly. AllyHealth’s low monthly fee and no medical consult fee sets it apart from other telehealth companies.
“Treating illnesses quickly and efficiently at a low cost, especially this time of year when more people are sick, busy and spending more money during the holidays, is one of the strongest reasons for using healthPERX in every health benefit package,” said AllyHealth’s COO Ron Douglass. “Companies and employees benefit by saving money, being more productive and feeling healthier overall.”
Upon participating with the program, employers receive awareness building tools used to educate employees year round so they don’t forget they have this benefit and how easy it is to use, leading to increased utilization. This is the key to success with telehealth and another feature that sets AllyHealth apart from other telemedicine providers.
Telehealth is expected to be part of every company’s health care cost containment strategy in the next five years. Currently more than eight million consumers in America receive a telehealth benefit through employers, including many Fortune 100 companies.
