America's Benefit Specialist January-February 2023

NOTEWORTHY

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• Fifty-seven percent of organizations surveyed have not yet created new patient workflows for telehealth visits. • Limited digital literacy and limited access to technology are seen by respondents as being barriers to the future impact of telehealth. “During the pandemic, many prac tices and hospitals viewed telehealth simply as a way to ensure access and maintain patient visit volumes,” said Stephanie Kovalick, Sage Growth Part ners chief strategy officer. “Today, the use of telehealth has remained steady, although practices and hospitals don’t seem to want to grow or expand their programs. While more organizations are recognizing that telehealth can help ensure continuity of care and enhance the in-person care being delivered, there is still work to do to fully optimize telehealth to extract its full value.” The findings are based on a nation al survey conducted in September of 75 physician practice leaders and 95 health system executives. Among those surveyed, were a representation of primary care and pediatric practices, independent specialty and multi-spe cialty medical groups, community hospitals, privately owned hospitals and small health systems. For more information, visit www. sage-growth.com. REPORT SHOWS FLEXIBILITY IS VITAL IN VOLUNTARY BENEFITS BILLING PRACTICES Flexible options have become table stakes for voluntary carriers to success fully compete in the worksite benefits market, according to Eastbridge’s new Voluntary Billing Practices Spotlight Report.

• What aspects of telehealth will prac tices and hospitals focus most on improving in the next year? “Organizations that want to attract and retain patients must continue to of fer or expand their telehealth services,” said Dan D’Orazio, Sage Growth Part ners CEO. “Telehealth can help hospi tals protect market share and compete with industry disruptors, but our survey findings indicate that many hospital and practice leaders do not recognize this. Only 21% of hospital executives and 15% of practice leaders said telehealth has a major or significant impact on protecting their market share. In 2023, we anticipate that more hospitals and practices will begin to see telehealth as being essential to compete and grow.” The report also reveals that many practice and hospital leaders believe telehealth makes work more difficult for nurses. Among other key findings in the report: • Of those surveyed, 52% of prac tice-based physicians and 35% of hospital executives believe that pro viding telehealth services increases the workload of support staff. • Sixty-four percent of practice-based physicians and 66% of hospital executives indicated that telehealth enables their organization to provide comprehensive quality care. • Only 11% of hospitals and eight per cent of practices surveyed said that they are looking to expand telehealth offerings. • Both sets of respondents said that the top benefits of telehealth offer ings are enhanced patient access and increased patient satisfaction.

The report shows voluntary carriers across the board offer their employer customers multiple billing methods, frequencies and payment options. Most carriers also offer a choice of payment methods to employee customers who are paying for their voluntary coverage directly rather than through payroll de duction, primarily for ported coverage. The Voluntary Billing Practices Spotlight Report uses survey data from 31 voluntary carriers to examine and compare key billing practices such as employer billing services and options, processes for late payments and re solving discrepancies, employee-direct billing services and more. “Back-end administration—especial ly the quality and reliability of billing processes—has become just as import ant to customers as a broad product portfolio and strong enrollment capa bilities,” said Ginger Bates, Eastbridge director of research. “Carriers that want to stay competitive need to be able to successfully integrate rapidly evolving billing technology into their processes and systems.” Other key findings in the report include: An overwhelming majority—90%—of carriers surveyed offer electronic bills employers can access through the carrier’s website or online portal, and all but a few allow real-time changes and reconciliation capabilities. Self-administered billing has become the most common billing method carriers offer, as its use by employers continues to grow. Most carriers offer direct billing methods to enable employees to keep their voluntary coverage after they leave their workplace. More information is available at www. eastbridge.com.

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