According to a recent survey*, 60% of HR leaders at organizations that currently offer a virtual care benefit are open to changing providers this year.

During COVID-19, many people used virtual care for the first time and became confident in using it for their healthcare needs. In turn, that increase in use also brought added scrutiny of virtual care benefits. Complaints arose about how long it takes to see a doctor, as well as the scope of care and communication methods.

It should come as no surprise, then, that many HR leaders are currently shopping around for a better solution.

If your organization is considering a change, or if you’re seeking insights into choosing a solution for the first time, be sure to look for these red flags that emerged during the pandemic.

1. Hidden fees

Beware of hidden costs for incremental usage.

Will rates increase if more employees use virtual care more often? Is there a higher copay once an employee has a specific number of doctor visits?

Conducting due diligence into caps or maximums can save money (and aggravation) down the road.

2. Limited scope of care

Verify the scope and breadth of care.

Confirm who is providing the care, whether that’s board-certified physicians, registered nurses or other healthcare professionals. Then, look into what’s offered. Start with these questions:

• Is it only urgent care?
• Is it only available via text or via phone?
• How quickly do people get connected with a doctor?
• Does it include tools to help people proactively support their health?

You might be surprised at the limitations of some programs — and the substance of others.

At HealthTap, for example, all care is provided by a 24/7 doctor network of U.S.-based board-certified physicians. Our doctors also provide more than urgent care. They partner with patients to offer Virtual Primary Care. People can choose their own doctor and see that same doctor for their ongoing healthcare needs, just like they would in a traditional family doctor’s office.

HealthTap also includes tools such as our Doctor Q&A and Symptoms Assessment AI (Artificial Intelligence).

• People use Doctor Q&A to ask doctors anonymous questions. Instead of asking Dr. Internet or their Facebook friend, people have their questions answered by a panel of thousands of doctors across 147 specialties.

• Our Symptoms Assessment AI is trained and developed by doctors to better identify symptoms. It helps people to understand their symptoms and suggests the steps they can take to feel better.

3. Long wait times

Wait times and hours of accessibility vary across providers. Some take hours or even days to connect people with a doctor.

Verify that each solution has the technical capacity to meet demand, especially during peak cold, flu, and allergy seasons. Ask about typical wait times for urgent care consultations. For example, HealthTap’s average urgent care wait time is less than a minute.

Lastly, ensure that your comparisons are apples-to-apples. There’s no standardized way for virtual care providers to explain benefits, and no two solutions are the same. For example, be sure to measure text-only solutions against other text-only solutions to get the full picture.

Healthcare — and healthcare solutions — are constantly changing. If it’s been a year or two since you researched virtual care solutions, ensure that yours is up to the task.

HealthTap is proud to be a leader in virtual healthcare, enabling people across the U.S. to get urgent care, receive guidance and counsel, and manage primary care with board-certified physicians.

*About the research: In October 2020, HealthTap engaged Perch Partners to survey human resource professionals across the U.S. The report, “Human Resources & Benefits Leaders Telehealth Attitudes” surveyed more than 500 companies ranging in size from 500 from 10,000 employees, including part-time and contact workers.