Big savings seen in first year of Teladoc deal
PLANO, TEXAS – In its first full year of contracting with Teladoc for telehealth services, Rent-A-Center reported savings of more than $700,000 in healthcare expenses and lost productivity.
And at least one life saved, too.
Those are pretty heady numbers for both the Plano, Texas-based national retail chain, which boasts 12,300 employees in more than 2,700 locations nationwide, and the Dallas-based provider of telehealth services, which contracted with Rent-A-Center beginning Jan. 1, 2011. More importantly, they offer strong proof to the value of telehealth to a healthcare industry desperately trying to cut back on wasteful spending, unnecessary ER visits and impractical trips to the doctor’s office.
“It is still a relatively new thing out there,” said Steve Spratt, Rent-A-Center’s senior director of compensation benefits. “We knew a little bit about doc-in-the-box-type deals with cameras and stuff” when the idea was first broached in 2010 by the company’s new senior vice president of human resources. “Teladoc had very good word-of-mouth, and it fit our co-worker profile very well.”
“They’ve really embraced telehealth as an integrated part of their benefits package,” added Jason Gorevic, Teladoc’s CEO, who has seen his business grow from 1.5 million members in 2010 to 3 million in 2011 to an estimated 6 million by the end of this year.
“The one question we all wondered about was, ‘Would you be able to get medical advice from someone you’ve never met?’” said Spratt.
Rent-A-Center management aggressively promoted the service in late 2010 just prior to its launch, publicizing it in posters, slideshows and postcards as well as the company manual. Employees pay an extra $1.50 per month as part of their health plan contribution, with the funds earmarked to a “Consult Bank,” and are given free access to Teladoc physicians via contact information printed on the back of their health plan ID card and in their benefits booklet.
“It’s so easy,” said Spratt. “You call them, and about 10 minutes later, they call back.”
Factoring in the amount of work time lost (an average of three to four hours per medical visit), Teladoc and Rent-A-Center officials have projected a savings of $718,654 in 2011.
“That’s an extra three of four hours (per employee per visit),” said Spratt. “This allows them to stay here and get healthy a lot quicker, as opposed to spending half a day at an urgent care center or running around trying to find a doctor or a hospital.”