It was already the trend before 2020, but with COVID-19 came a whole new level of consumers using the convenience of technology to bring their lifestyle to them. Instead of traveling out,  groceries are delivered to your front door, movies can be streamed through your phone, you can attend team meetings from the comfort of your kitchen table, and now you can also experience doctor’s visits through the more than 80 new telemedicine services approved by the federal government.

The American healthcare system has been slowly moving toward new, technologically-advanced practices for years, but the entire industry has needed an overall transformation for decades. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, deep-rooted obstacles to these necessary changes were finally pushed aside in a matter of months. 

With the onset of COVID-19, most healthcare providers scrambled to figure out how to keep seeing patients while still offering quality care. Many turned to a lesser-known platform for their health care needs — telemedicine. The American Academy of Family Physicians defines telemedicine as “the practice of medicine using technology to deliver care at a distance.”  

A national survey conducted by Mercer validates everything our customers have been experiencing: telemedicine saves employers and employees money, and the key to this is high utilization rates. Even more so, a low or waived copay is the key to getting employees to use the benefit.

Return on investment (ROI) is arguably one of the most important KPIs to companies, especially small businesses. More often than not, providing an extensive benefits package is seen as a waste of money without the possibility of seeing a tangible ROI. It's time to change that thinking.