Engagement is Key for Virtual Care Success

In order to get the best value from a virtual care solution, employee engagement is a must. Employee engagement drives utilization which in turn maximizes cost savings for both employees and their employer. However, many virtual care programs do not prioritize employee engagement and typically achieve low utilization – just 2-20%. 

To achieve industry-leading utilization, it comes down to meeting people where they are and spreading awareness of the program’s virtual care capabilities. As one of the only virtual care companies to customize employee engagement, First Stop Health organizes, implements and funds all campaigns to help drive our industry-leading 40% utilization.  

Here are 6 elements of our engagement strategy:  

1. Personalization: By using persona-based messaging via text, email and direct mail, we help members see the true value of virtual care based on their unique healthcare needs, fears and motivators. Whether it’s “Mother Maria” or “Gen X Gerry”, the healthcare experience is unique to the user and with customized messaging, they can discover how virtual care can support their primary interests
2. Meeting People Where They Are: When working with a variety of industries, there is no one-size-fits-all option for communication. That's why meeting people where they are is so important — whether it's at their desk, on their feet or on the road. Through the personalized communications mentioned above, we've learned that what you say matters and where you say it further drives engagement.  
3. Staring Off Strong: The introduction of virtual care with current employee benefits puts a best foot forward. Benefits teams and account managers should collaborate with a client at the beginning of a partnership to spread awareness. Creating benefits announcements, educating the HR team, leveraging communications platforms, and arranging welcome letters and digital messages all enhance and encourage virtual care use.   
4. Adapting to Change: While you can plan most content in advance, other things are impossible to plan for — like a global pandemic or severe weather event. Having the ability to adapt quickly and provide information that members can depend on shows unrelenting support when they need it most.  
5. Helpful and Compassionate: Communicating with helpful and compassionate messaging drives engagement. Providing immediate communication post-visit for ease and convenience makes for a stress-free visit when a member is already not feeling their best. Visit history should be available 24/7 and messaging should be customized seasonally to offer support during the height of events like pandemic surges or flu season.  
6. Always Evolving: A commitment to constantly evolve to further drive utilization and create valuable user experiences shapes high-quality employee engagement. Trying new things, gathering data and applying that data is key to engagement that works. 

First Stop Health (FSH) is proud to deliver care that people love® with our Telemedicine, Virtual Primary Care and Virtual Mental Health solutions. FSH pre-registers all members to get them connected to a doctor or counselor quickly and to eliminate the 15-minute registration process that other virtual care programs require. No insurance card uploads are needed as the solution is free for members to use and no medical claims are filed through the insurance plan. To see how we drive our utilization to best support our members and to maximize cost savings for employers, check out our short video series 6 Elements of Engagement that Work.