Call for Care
Offering the right
telemedicine services
can help employees get
the care they need,
when they need it
By Mary-Lou MacDonald
In today’s digital culture, many jobs can
be done remotely. Employees across
the country are taking advantage of
that during the country-wide shut down
due to COVID-19.
Yet beer, wine and liquor stores, as
well as alcohol producers, remain open as
part of stated “essential services” in several
provinces, including Ontario and British
Columbia. That means employees are likely
still needed to work, but what happens if
they get sick?
One study showed that nearly 90 per
cent of Canadian employees came to work
sick.1 Most of those people didn’t feel they
could take time off. For producers of food
and drink, who either interact with a high
volume of customers or handle food, the
potential for disease transmission is high,
and the costs to businesses – of re-staffing,
re-stocking, clean-up, fines, permit suspen-sion
and negative public opinion – can be
even higher.2
However, there is a solution. Beer,
wine and liquor producers who offer tele-medicine
services to their employees can
help them get the care they need. Until
recently, relatively few Canadian employ-ers
were offering telemedicine services, but
the safeguards taken during the COVID-19
pandemic may have permanently changed
the face of medicine.
Although some employers may be
tempted to commit to the first provider
they encounter, it’s still worth keeping a few
considerations in mind before signing up.
Know what you are buying
The cheapest option or the fastest onboard-ing
process may be important today, but
employers need to ensure they are com-paring
apples to apples. Often, the less
expensive options offer just a thin layer of
coverage, rather than more comprehensive
coverage or longer wait times, a cap on
the number of visits, limited hours or by-
appointment only.
Understand the different models
Some digital health providers offer wide-spread,
supportive coverage, while oth-ers
address only a specific area, such as
mental health support or online phar-macy.
Understanding the way each pro-vider
offers coverage can help employers
determine which version will work best for
their employees.
Learn about cyber risks
Make sure to ask questions about data stor-age,
managing patient records, platform
security and quality controls. Clarify the
ways patient information is shared with
their regular physicians – and whether any
aggregated data is provided to the employ-er.
This is important information for future
intervention program planning. Finally,
consider any education and/or support for
new users.
Manage employee expectations
One of the biggest benefits of telemedi-cine
is convenience. The most compre-hensive
H U M A N R E S O U R C E S
providers offer bilingual service,
available 24/7, 365 days a year. They offer
support through video, telephone and chat.
They also offer integrated care manage-ment,
with a real person and navigation
throughout the entire patient journey. They
also share records with the patient’s family
doctor. However, most providers don’t offer
this kind of coverage, so employers may
need to manage employees’ expectations or
match the service to their needs.
Try it out. It can be challenging to com-mit
to a new service from an unfamiliar
provider, especially when under pressure to
select one. The good news is that a number
of providers are offering short term con-tracts
because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Employers should use this to their advan-tage;
a short-term contract can provide a
good introduction to a new service. If the
goal is to offer something as soon as pos-sible
in response to the pandemic, it may
be enough to choose a short-term contract.
Make sure that contract offers basic cover-age
for physical and mental health support,
referrals to specialists and paramedical
professionals, and the ability to write and
maybe deliver prescriptions. If looking for
coverage with care management and navi-gation,
ask about that up front. Look for an
experienced and reliable company that can
be trusted.
Among the many changes that may
occur as the world returns to normal, the
growth in use of telemedicine is perhaps
the most likely. Arranging for the right tele-medicine
services provider now can help
employees – and businesses – take advan-tage
of all the benefits.
References
1. https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/
nearly-9-in10-employees-in-canada-come-to-
work-sick-survey-shows -834359870.html
2. The myths and truths about paid sick days,
http://ontario.psac.com/sites/ontario/files/
paid_sick_days_myths.pdf
Mary-Lou MacDonald is the national prac-tice
lead, health and performance for HUB
International. As a pioneer in the field of
workplace wellness, she has spearheaded
many ground-breaking initiatives that have
paved the way for leaders to understand and
adopt healthy and high performing work-place
practices and strategy.
Photo courtesy of HUB International
SUMMER 2020 § POURED CANADA § 33
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