October 5, 2021 | Net Health
3 Minute Read
2 Ways OccMed Can Help Employers Prepare for COVID-Related Travel Requirements
Employee health issues resulting directly from the pandemic have been complex and ever-increasing, with more employees having concerns about virus exposure and employer responses. Adding to COVID concerns, there’s a significant amount of uncertainty around the future. Aspects such as travel have become confusing for workers as the pandemic compounds existing domestic and international medical testing and treatment requirements.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was estimated that 1.5 billion employees globally were categorized as vulnerable. Since the onset of the pandemic, this has increased with more workers now being considered vulnerable due to higher-risk jobs, deteriorating health, or socio-economic circumstances.1 With the COVID-19 virus and variants accelerating, occupational medicine (OccMed) businesses now have the opportunity to add value to their services by providing guidance to employers about airline and international travel requirements.
As the COVID-19 virus and variants show no signs of going away any time soon, we’ll take a look at some tactics that OccMed businesses can use to help employers and employees better prepare for travel.
Here are two tips:
1. Provide Testing for Americans Traveling Internationally
Approximately 1.1 million employees travel for business daily.2 With business travel expected to cost employers $1.7 trillion by 2022, only 60% of companies have a corporate travel policy.3 OccMed can provide much-needed travel-related guidance about medical testing and treatment requirements, as well as provide COVID testing.
Gene Howell, CEO of Reliant Urgent Care, Net Health Client, and Billing Partner, runs an urgent care clinic based at Los Angeles International Airport that receives hundreds of visitors daily. He says there’s an opportunity to develop a new revenue stream by offering tests for Americans traveling internationally.
Expanding services by offering domestic and international guidance and testing plans is a great way to help employers adapt to the impact of COVID-19. It can help them effectively handle COVID-19 testing and guidance about treatment in a timely manner.
2. Develop Relationships With Airlines To Promote Services
US airlines require not only travelers but also employees to be regularly tested. With approximately 1.1 million business travelers and a large number of airline crews coming in and out of airports daily, OccMed can help businesses promote much-needed testing services.
“How you can get people in the door is to develop relationships with airlines, who can promote your services to their travelers and crew members,” Howell says. To assist with this, here’s a website that lists every country and the type of tests they require.
If you’d like to learn more about this, we’d encourage you to take a minute and check out our free expert e-book—“6 Tactics to Grow and Expand Your OccMed Business.”
6 Tactics to Grow and Expand Your OccMed Business
Scale Up Quickly to Guide Employers in Improving Worker Health
Sources:
1 Jacques Tamin, Oxford Academic, Occupational Medicine, “COVID-19 and vulnerable workers,” Volume 71, Issue 3, April 2021, Page 161
2 Trondent Development Corp, “Business Travel by the Numbers,” accessed August 17, 2021
3 Danica Jovic, Smallbizgenious, “42 Business Travel Statistics That Will Inspire You to Hit the Road,” January 11, 2021.
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