Benefit renewal time is extremely busy - just talk to any overworked HR employee or benefits consultant! With contract renewals, benefits planning, and open enrollments, telemedicine can sometimes get ignored or forgotten. While it may not seem as important as the other pieces of a medical plan, an effective telemedicine program is a low-cost, high-ROI benefit that is truly appreciated by employees.

Luckily, telemedicine can actually be implemented year-round. So even if you missed it during this year's enrollment cycle, you can still provide this attractive benefit. Here are three reasons why you can implement year-round.

1. It doesn’t need a budget

Unlike most benefits, a good telemedicine program should pay for itself. Telemedicine should be measured by utilization, which is a measure of how frequently your employees use it. Every time an employee uses telemedicine instead of going to the doctor or the ER, the employer saves money. With a high utilization rate, these savings really add up. That's why TelaCare can boast an average ROI of over 60% for our customers!

Let's look at an example: for a company with 1,000 employees, telemedicine can save a self-funded employer over $70,000 annually in diverted healthcare claims. And they’ll see those savings as soon as one employee uses the program, unlike some benefit programs that take years to generate a positive ROI.

2. Implementation is easy

Benefit implementations can be a big headache for employees and the HR team. But not with TelaCare. 

We have a turnkey on-boarding process that eliminates a lot of the work and stress that implementations usually involve for HR. We create the implementation plan and develop a year-long employee engagement campaign. Plus, our team creates and distributes the co-branded employee communications, once we have employer approval. All our team needs is a current census of eligible employees and family members. 

For employees, all they need to do is call a doctor when they need one. There’s no need to sign up, pre-register, or download any programs. It’s easy.

3. It gets more attention!

Telemedicine programs can get lost in the noise if implemented at the same time as medical plans. But high utilization and employee awareness are critical to their success. 

When you implement off-cycle, a new telemedicine program can get the attention it needs. This leads to higher utilization and engagement rates, which makes the program more beneficial for employees and employers. After all, a program that no one uses doesn’t provide any benefit.

When done right, telemedicine gives employees a program that is easy, accessible, and beneficial. They can get health care that is more convenient and cheaper. For employers, an effective telemedicine program gives them an opportunity to communicate the value of their benefits to employees. Benefits aren’t cheap and communicating their value to employees can be a challenge, making this a great opportunity for employers.

It’s not too late

Benefit programs are usually evaluated and implemented with the annual medical plan renewals, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Implementing outside of the plan renewal period can be done with TelaCare. Why wait to save money and increase convenience?