Safeguarding Employees Through the Uncertainty of COVID-19

October 26, 2020 - As more employees return to work, employers across the country have assumed responsibility for maintaining safe work environments by protecting staff from the current coronavirus and ensuring access to care services capable of having a lasting influence on the long-term health of employees.

With the coronavirus pandemic showing few signs of abating, employees face continued uncertainty. For employers and payers, the challenge becomes providing a robust collection of resources to keep employees safe and healthy at an unprecedented time.

According to CirrusMD Chief Quality Officer and Specialty Medical Director Donna Baldwin, DO, providing an "accessible, supportive environment for employees" is key to addressing a prevailing sense of worry.

"It's definitely coming to the forefront for employers as well as patients. The impact of continual worry about getting sick, worry about taking care of your family, worry about finances, worry if you're going to be able to keep your job," she says.

Addressing this worry is leading employers and payers to rethink product design, accessibility, and formats, especially around virtual care opportunities.

"Telehealth has historically been a check-the-box item — that is, everybody needs a telehealth option within their product plays — but now the market has shifted and forced organizations to look at relationships between providers and payers and how care is being delivered," explains CirrusMD Vice President Sales & Client Success Robyn Dietz.

"This has led to a call to action to rethink how care can be delivered virtually and the way organizations operate as a result," she continues. "It's not just one telehealth solution to check the box, but rather what are the suite of provider services that we need to offer and what are the unique ways that all of our members need to engage in order to get the care that they need. Providing true on-demand care for employees can be that path to providing a higher degree of safety for employees in their work environments."

Fortunately, a growing feeling of partnership among stakeholders is proving to be a catalyst for change, especially business strategies influenced by holistic approaches to care access and delivery.

And timing is of the essence with the flu season looming on the horizon, with two viruses threatening employee health and productivity.

"Both viruses are going to be competing with each other, which magnifies the need for employers and payers to provide incentives around getting flu shots as well as encourage adhering to precautions for COVID and flu — mask wearing, handwashing, social distancing, and staying home when sick," Dr. Baldwin stresses.

According to Dietz, the time is ripe for employers to take the lead in the design of new products and services to support their employees through what should be a trying next few months.

"Employers are probably the most important voice because of the way that the United States healthcare system is set up, exerting significant influence over the decisions that the health plans make," she maintains. "And they're going to be pushing for more on-demand access for their employees in order to provide a safe work environment, a continuation of a consumer-driven approach to healthcare, and increasing support for reimbursement models that don't discourage the use of services."

And for these products and services to achieve their goals, employers must invest in those that embrace an integrated care model, combining physician and behavioral health in recognition of the intrinsic link between the two. 

"There is a substantial amount of data that point to the relationship between employee wellness and productivity. If employers were to focus on employee assistance programs, ranging from those targeting behavioral health to obesity, they would see an improvement in productivity by decreasing sick days and disability claims," Dr. Baldwin notes.

"There's a strong return on investment specifically for employers that embrace an integrated care approach to employee health. These resources can be made available to employees discreetly, get to the root cause of the factors contributing to poor health, and offer help and solutions to improve overall health and productivity," she concludes.

Many human resources departments find themselves tasked with being experts on health, safety, and wellness in the workplace. By establishing strategic technology partnerships, employers are able to make prevention and wellness a cornerstone of their businesses and recognize the benefits of a healthy and supported workforce.

Uncertainty may have become the new normal, but employers and payers can bring certainty to essential aspects of employees' lives.