BROADCASTS.com

This is Derek Miller Speaking on Business. In the interest of its 300 employees and 200,000 members throughout Utah, University of Utah Health Plans reacted swiftly and creatively to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s U of U Health Plans CEO Chad Westover. CHAD WESTOVER At U of U Health Plans, we knew early on that we needed to find innovative solutions to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on our employees and members. To keep our employees safe, we shifted to remote work in March. Realizing the burden remote work might put on our staff, we also started sending bi-weekly uplifting messages, enhanced our virtual communication capabilities, and provided resiliency resources in partnership with University of Utah Health. For our members, our main priority was—and still is—to keep health care accessible. We made changes to our plans to accept the same copay for in-person and telehealth visits, and many of our plans cover telehealth visits in full for urgent care services. We also fully cover physician-prescribed COVID-19 testing at no cost to our members. Our goal now and into the future is to continually improve access to care and embrace virtual care modalities that COVID-19 brought into the spotlight. DEREK MILLER U of U Health Plans is an excellent example of the positive steps health insurance carriers in Utah are taking to address the needs of their members and those that serve them. More information is available at uhealthplan.com. I’m Derek Miller with the Salt Lake Chamber, and this is Speaking on Business. Originally aired: January 14, 2021