If employers want to have a valuable and appealing health benefits strategy, they must be completely able to address the physical and mental aspects of an employee. That’s why wellness trends are leaning towards acknowledging the connection between a behavioral health care benefit and increased overall health, making employees all the more productive.
Many wellness programs today use methods to promote some good behavioral lifestyle decisions, but they don’t often look at the health conditions that might be affecting the employee’s ability to accept and embrace the changes. As an example, an employee who is diabetic is not very likely to change their diet and adopt an exercise routine if they’re feeling depressed and lacking in motivation and energy.
Because of these challenges, companies are setting up comprehensive wellbeing strategies instead of just wellness. By putting physical and behavioral healthcare access first, employers can become more engaged in long-term and company-wide self-care, creating a workforce that is more productive in the long run. In reality, although many companies have put a lot of investment in these programs and benefits, the access to care is still a big obstacle in behavioral health changes.
We are now seeing that employers use telemedicine into the options for health benefits as a possible solution for access issues. As per Rob Frasier, a healthcare blogger at Assignment Help and Essay Services, “telepsychiatry is a new opportunity and a great way to overcoming obstacles or negative perceptions around behavioral health utilization. This type of model can overcome stigmas, busy lifestyles, and poor access to services so that busy or unsure employees don’t delay getting needed help.
Employees can access telepsychiatry and telebehavioral health through videoconferencing evaluations, consultations, and treatment. A licensed psychiatry or behavioral health expert can interact live in private with the employees. It’s an excellent way to make sure that employees can get help before their issues can cause more long term and expensive damage.
Behavioral health issues are the leading cause of disability and account for one third of employee claims, say recent statistics. Depression is a large employer health challenge and costs businesses billions each year due to workplace absenteeism and loss of productivity. These behavioral health issues also make wellness programs for physical health less effective.
The good news is that companies can still get a good return on their investment in wellness and wellbeing programs if they also invest in mental health treatment options. It’s hard to quantify how behavioral health treatment impacts the work place, but most HR departments would assert that healthy employees are much more reliable and productive than not.
When employees get the access to a therapist or psychiatric help from the privacy and comfort of home or another private location, there are much fewer stigmas and individuals are more likely to follow and assigned care plan. Telepsychiatry also has the benefit of greater confidentiality and privacy because individuals are guaranteed not to run into someone they know before an appointment. It’s also easier for patients generally to discuss difficult issues in a familiar location.
Other benefits with telepsychiatry include more schedule flexibility, more choices of providers, and overall more access for everyone. Joan Trelaney, a tech writer at Top Writing Services and Ukservicesreviews, explains that “employees may have difficulty attending a traditional therapy session at an office due to their hectic work schedule and family life, but with telepsychiatry, they can have their appointments on weekends or evenings in addition to weekdays.”
The bottom line is that when online psychotherapy is an option on the table, there are much higher trends towards patient satisfaction compared to the traditional treatments face-to-face. Telepsychiatry and telebehavioral health might not be for everyone, but it does break down many of the obstacles associated with getting immediate and professional behavioral health appointments. The whole creates the possibility of a better overall health and wellbeing in the workforce.
If employers are reviewing their health benefits plans, they should seriously consider providing telepsychiatry and telebehavioral health as useful options to promote behavioral health. These options come with the biggest return on their investment in health plans and is an effective model of care. Not only is it an appropriate healthcare resource, it may even be more efficient for certain employees, allowing them to be more in control of their health.
