Help@hand sees uptake of appointments for partners and children, even out of hours

Employee benefits provider Unum have announced that their health and wellbeing app, Help@hand, now has over 250,000 eligible users, with more than 1,100 businesses signed up for the service.

Over 8,400 appointments were booked via the Help@hand app in 2020, with 1 in 6 (16%) bookings in the last six months being made for partners and children of employees, indicating that Help@hand’s Remote GP service – which includes unlimited appointments and 24/7, 365 day a year access – is not only benefiting those in the workplace, but also their loved ones.

The app has been particularly valuable for children’s medical appointments, with 9% of bookings from July last year being made for those under the age of 16. One of Help@hand’s standout features is that it offers the employee’s family members access to the services*.

Employees and their families have also utilised the 24/7, unlimited aspect of the remote GP service via the app, with 15% of patients making an appointment ‘out-of-hours’ – either before or after 8am-8pm on a weekday, or any time on a weekend, another key offering from the Help@hand app – allowing employees to create a better work/health balance with appointments available at a time that suits them.

97% of remote GP appointments have been offered within 2 hours of initial customer engagement or within 2 hours of customer’s preferred time (if later) – and 96% of mental health support and physio appointments have been offered with 2 working days.

_{*Partners can access all Help@hand service. Children are eligible to access the remote GP and medical second opinion services up until their 18th birthday or 24th if in full-time education. Children over 18 are able to access the Life, money and wellbeing confidential helpline and other online resources}

_{**If an individual requires medication, a referral letter or a private fitnote, they will need to pay for these. They will also need to pay a delivery charge if they opt to have the medication sent to them. The remote GP will go through the options and next steps during the consultation.}

_{Help@hand is a non-contractual benefit which can be withdrawn or changed by Unum at any time. The service does not form part of any Unum insurance policy and there is no additional cost or increase in premium as a result of Unum making this benefit available.}