Technology has made its way into virtually every area of our lives, and it’s only getting more advanced. We can take advantage of it with apps that can control virtually every electronic device in our homes, and now, we can use it to deliver better quality, lower cost benefits to our employees.
These tools are so much more than fancy perks you can add on to your plan – they improve the benefits experience for your employees while driving down costs. By including them in your plan, you’re communicating to your workers that you value their ability to access high-quality, low-cost care, further solidifying your mission to make your employees your number-one priority in your business.
Here’s how technology options in your benefits plan can give your workers a better experience:
A Continuous Effort
I praise the impact of continuous year-long employee benefits education for a reason: it works. While individual and group meetings can be helpful, you can also deliver information to your employees through other means such as:
- Automated text messages
- Regular email blasts
- Online employee portals
Say, for example, that a few of your employees weren’t able to make a meeting outlining new tools and strategies in your benefits plan. Rather than receiving a condensed version of the material covered in the meeting from their employer or a coworker, they could view a video of the meeting in their employee portal. This way, they can access the information at any time straight from the source.
These simple, easy-to-implement strategies can ensure that your employees’ benefits education carries on throughout the year at their fingertips.
Better Access Made Simple
Smartphones, once a tool only for CEOs and tech aficionados, are now a staple in the hands and pockets of people from all social classes. Your employees will likely have a portable computer with them at all times, and you can use that to your advantage in your benefits plan.
Imagine an app that makes your phone vibrate when it places your location at a high-cost medical provider, then gives you nearby alternatives that can offer you a lower copay. Or perhaps a digital assistant asks you, “Are you going to the emergency room?” and gives you suggestions to decrease your costs or find better quality options. This technology is already available, and we can use it to deliver our employees improved care in real time.
Looking Out for the Whole Family
I was able to use technology to improve my own healthcare experience recently thanks to a telehealth app I have on my phone. I felt unwell, so I used to app to connect with someone who scheduled me a remote appointment with a doctor. Within ninety minutes, I was on the phone describing my symptoms to the doctor, who told me which over-the-counter and prescription medications I needed. I called it into the pharmacy and went to pick it up, and that was that – no copay, no needlessly exposing myself to other people (sick or healthy). I had a phenomenal experience that also saved the insurer money in the process.
Imagine the impact of an experience like this on a busy family. If your employee’s child becomes sick at 10 p.m., they might find the local urgent care center closed and feel like they have no choice but to make a hectic and expensive visit to the emergency room. With telehealth options, though, your employee can keep their sick child at home in bed and contact a medical professional who can tell your employee what’s wrong with their child and what steps they should take next. The usefulness of this technology extends beyond one employee’s convenience and reaches their entire family.
Not Sci-Fi, Just High-Quality Care
These tools aren’t wishful thinking inspired by stories about spaceships and robots – they currently exist in our reality, and they can deliver a better, less expensive benefits experience to your employees. Your adviser can implement technological options into your plan that give them accessible and continuous education, real-time provider suggestions, and convenient, low-risk options for their whole family. By implementing this technology into your benefits plan, you can further prove to your employees that their benefits plan is built around the experience that they want and need.
Contact us today to learn more about how to use technology to increase the quality of your benefits plan.
