The Covid-19 pandemic has changed the face of the modern workplace. From developing hybrid working schemes to investing in virtual offices, employers are increasingly looking for new ways to support their workforces as we head into 2022. A long-standing favourite employee benefit offered by budget and health-conscious employers are health cash plans, where employees can claim money back on their everyday healthcare costs such as dental, optical, and physiotherapy fees.

Favoured by employees and employers alike due to their usability and low cost, health plan providers have seen an explosion of renewed interest in company-funded health plans across the pandemic period. An increased focus on employee health throughout isolation periods, growing awareness of the impact of both physical and mental wellbeing on a happy, productive workforce, and a desire to reduce the burden on the NHS throughout the pandemic are often quoted as the primary factors toward increased engagement with employee wellbeing. Research by the CIPD even suggests that up to 75% of employees believe that their health and wellbeing is a top priority amid their organisations’ leadership, with health cash plans being utilised by employers as a tool to recruit and retain staff amid the current highly competitive job market.

With this encouraging new surge in interest regarding employee wellbeing, health cash plans have undergone a technological metamorphosis. With savvy employers looking for the best value plans for their employees, providers such as Medicash, one of the UK’s longest running health plan providers, have been investing in new and innovative ways to make their health benefits not only good value, but accessible for a modern workforce.

“By increasing our digital and virtual offerings, our customers have been able to utilise the full benefits of their health cash plan throughout the 2020 lockdowns and beyond,” says Paul Gambon, Sales & Marketing Director at Medicash. “For example, our newest service, Phio, allows our policyholders to take control of their physiotherapy recovery not just from the comfort of their own homes via their smartphone, but at their own pace. Backed up by the expertise and experience of clinically-led physiotherapists, using Phio means that their recovery is both faster and more personalised.”

Phio isn’t the only digital benefit that Medicash have invested in for their customers. With many health plan providers offering a Virtual GP service, where users can arrange telephone or video appointments with NHS-registered GPs and avoid lengthy NHS waiting times, Medicash have looked to expand the scope of their virtual offerings even further.

“By expanding our digital services to include everything from home exercise and mental wellbeing guides in our mProve YOURSELF app, to skin cancer screening tools like SkinVision, Medicash customers can use their health plan not only to claim back their everyday healthcare costs, but access a fully comprehensive healthcare support service from their mobile phones,” says Paul Gambon. “Our aim is to make it as fast and simple as possible for people to access the right treatment as soon as they need it – and investing in new technology is helping us to do just that.”