Geography can play a significant role in physician quality—the nation’s top doctors tend to be concentrated in metropolitan areas near major academic medical centers. For employers with highly dispersed workforces in rural or remote areas, these disparities are both dangerous and costly.

Most benefits teams don’t have the time or resources to investigate each physician, particularly when employees are visiting lesser-known and sometimes less-experienced medical providers. Yet, understanding the cost impact of low physician quality is a critical component to controlling health care costs. With 35% of total health care costs under the immediate influence of physicians, the risks that substandard care can bring to employees and their families are significant.

At Included Health, formerly Grand Rounds, we are taking a data-driven approach to help employees, and their families, find the most qualified doctor and appropriate treatment for their specific needs, regardless of where they live.

Our approach rests on identifying physician quality at the individual provider level and matching members to the right service and support. By adding access to high-quality physicians through a solution such as Included Health, employers can lower health care costs and reduce lost work time while helping their employees improve overall health care outcomes.

Watch the video below to learn how Included Health is serving members across the U.S.: