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.
The idea of paying for a benefit to save money seems counter-intuitive. But it all depends on the type of benefit, the utilization rate of the benefit, and the effect those two factors have on your bottom line. If you purchase a telemedicine benefit in hopes of lowering insurance claim costs but put no effort into educating employees on the benefit, utilization is guaranteed to be minimal and you can't expect to see ROI. If the time is taken to share information about the benefit with employees and the benefit provider works with you to provide educational materials, the odds of employees utilizing the benefit are much higher.
It all boils down to this: the higher the utilization, the more likely the ROI.
What Kind of Benefits Offer ROI?
The kind of benefits that will offer your company ROI vary based on your industry, company size, and overall benefit offerings. If your employee base is primarily made up of shift workers making minimum wage (or close to it), health care is likely to be a large burden for them. Providing alternative health and wellness benefits to counteract high deductible plans will not only show employees you're making an effort to lessen the burden of care costs, but also increase your likelihood of retaining employees and seeing utilization-driven ROI. (In the case of one EZaccessMD customer, the President of a large nursing home was able to reallocate some of the money he saved on diverted medical claims to the employees' HSA accounts. This was extremely well-received by staff and employee retention increased.)
On the other hand, if you're a large accounting firm with well-paid employees who value their free time, you can get creative with health benefits. Providing a telemedicine benefit can help employees save time spent at a doctor's office or urgent care, which is especially important to those with children. The great thing about telemedicine is that the most employees use it, the more money your company will save. You can also devise an incentive-driven wellness program that rewards employees for participating and meeting goals. Employees focuses on their health and wellness are less likely to have medical issues, saving you money on diverted claims.
There are just a few ideas about ROI and benefit packages. To learn more about measuring the ROI of health benefits, click here.
EZaccessMD is the only mobile urgent care that offers diagnostic testing and imaging in the home or workplace. Not only are we revolutionizing the way employees get care, we’re making it affordable for them and their employers.
