India Inc.’s primary healthcare experience is broken, 73% employees have no trusted primary care provider: Survey

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COVID-19 has shone a spotlight on the limitations of healthcare services. The lack of simple, accessible, and equitable healthcare affects the overall well-being of individuals and their quality of experience with healthcare services, finds a survey by health insurance broker Loop Health. Conducted among 2500 users of Loop Health’s platform, the survey revealed that 73 percent of India Inc’s employees do not have a primary care provider that they trust, or can access when they are sick. This compromises their primary health care experience and consequently their wellness.

As many as 35 percent of all employees surveyed reported that they have low trust in their local GP, citing poor experiences and non-allopathic medical advice. Nearly 40 percent of employees reported doing at least two doctor consultations per year, but said they didn’t have a strong relationship with any one healthcare provider.

How to improve primary healthcare experience of India inc?

Amrit Singh, CRO of Loop Health, told FE Online, “Primary care physicians should consider a telemedicine-first approach so that doctors can ‘see’ more patients and decide which patients are really in need of an in-person visit. GPs should also be less reactive. More than 40% of urban-dwellers deal with a chronic condition (diabetes, hypertension, COPD, etc) but only consult their doctor when the problem gets out of hand. Doctors should be proactive, regularly following up with their patients to make sure they are following clinical guidelines to prevent medical problems from occurring. Technology can be used to automate this communication and make it easier for doctors to manage more patients, and keep track of their records over time.”

Consulting doctors at the right time leads to early disease detection, faster recovery, and better health. In a statement, Loop Health said it is looking to change how healthcare is delivered and accessed by India Inc by focusing on preventive care and offering an in-house team of medical specialists available on call 24X7 It is looking to change the very statistics its survey reveals.

Loop Health offers free virtual primary care to any company that buys health insurance through Loop.

“Every time a company joins Loop, we onboard each employee individually and connect them with their dedicated Medical Advisor. The member can text their Medical Advisor 24/7 for any health question and expect a response within 2 minutes! All of the doctors are on our team (not 3rd party) so we control the clinical practices they follow. (It’s like having a doctor in your family).”

Besides high-quality care, Singh said Loop Health’s doctors reach out proactively to care for the members and their families.

“For example— Instead of risking a heart attack, our medical advisors work with each hypertensive member to put them on a lifestyle management plan. The same goes for each member with diabetes or other problems. They check in regularly to keep the individual accountable and help them change their lifestyle to prevent a potential critical illness incident,” said Singh.