Most employers say COVID-19 is pushing them to offer new virtual care offerings as part of their healthcare strategy in 2021, a new survey shows.
The Business Group on Health released its annual look at how large employers view their health benefits Tuesday and found that 25% reported the pandemic has having a significant impact on their strategy, with an additional 2% saying it had a very significant impact.
Thirty-seven percent of the 122 large employers surveyed said it had a “somewhat significant” impact, the survey found.
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The Business Group also found that nearly half (45%) of employers view healthcare strategy as an integral piece of their overall workforce strategy, while 49% said it is a consideration in their workforce strategy.
By contrast, 36% of survey respondents in 2019 said healthcare was integral to their workforce strategy.
“You can look no further than a pandemic to very clearly see that matters of health and well-being do directly impact employee productivity, engagement and moreover how employers think about deploying their workforce,” Ellen Kelsay, CEO of the Business Group, said at a briefing with reporters Tuesday.
The survey also examines the solutions employers deployed in response to the pandemic, and Kelsay said they’re largely in line with existing trends. COVID-19, however, magnified the need even further, she said.
For example, 76% of the surveyed employers said they took steps to allow for easier access to virtual solutions as part of the pandemic. But even before COVID-19 was a consideration, employers were gearing up to grow their digital offerings, with 51% saying in last year’s survey that doing so was a top priority.
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In addition, 71% of employers said they offered paid administrative or emergency leave to workers under the pandemic, and 71% also said they accelerated their adoption of telehealth and virtual care offerings.
Just under half (43%) said they added new mental health supports for employees who were working remotely, and 24% said they modified their networks to cover more out-of-network care under the pandemic.
Kelsay said COVID-19 also led to delays of some initiatives, particularly around value-based care. Twelve percent said they delayed delivery system reform efforts, and 6% said they revised risk agreements with partners.
“Many employers haven't necessarily changed their strategic priorities, if anything they've doubled down and had been heightened related to their strategic priorities,” she said. “But there are in some instances employers who’ve had to put some of their priorities on the back burner as they pivoted and shifted to the near immediate priorities related to response to the COVID situation.”