How More Routine Primary Care Visits Can Help Employers Reduce Healthcare Costs
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Why high-risk employees benefit most and how virtual care providers make it happen
Routine Care, Rising Costs & A Better Path Forward
Employers are navigating a tricky equation: healthcare costs are rising, and workforce health needs are getting more complex. But new research points to a smart, sustainable way forward: encouraging more frequent primary care visits, especially for employees with higher health risks.
A recent study from The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC) found that commercially insured adults with higher clinical risk had significantly lower total healthcare expenditures when they engaged in more routine primary care. The takeaway? Early, frequent care pays off when delivered the right way.
Key Findings from the AJMC Study
The data is clear: more visits to a primary care provider (PCP) correlate with lower total healthcare costs but only when applied strategically.
For employees with high clinical risk, more PCP visits are strongly associated with cost savings.
For lower-risk individuals, the return on investment is less clear.
There is an “inflection point” where two or more visits per year begin to yield significant returns for high-risk employees.
For employers, this signals an opportunity: deploy resources intentionally by increasing PCP access among your most vulnerable employee populations.
How Virtual Care Providers Remove Barriers to Primary Care
While traditional in-person care can be slow, costly, and inconvenient, virtual care providers offer a more scalable and accessible solution especially for busy, high-need employees.
First Stop Health’s virtual primary care model eliminates friction and closes care gaps. Members receive:
Same-day or next-day access to primary care via phone or app
$0 cost for members, which removes financial hesitancy
Care built for adherence, with personalized follow-ups and check-ins
Access to mental health, health coaching, and specialist referrals all in one place
By offering virtual care that’s easy to use, cost-free, and always-on, employers can empower more employees to build healthy habits earlier—before conditions escalate into costly claims.
Cost Containment: A Strategic Advantage
Employers who prioritize frequent routine primary care access are playing the long game and seeing real results. In fact, virtual-first strategies can reduce:
Emergency room visits
Hospitalizations
Late-stage diagnoses
Disability claims
And when backed by performance guarantees, like those offered by First Stop Health, these strategies become even more compelling. Employers can demand results, track them transparently, and tie their investments directly to impact.
Integrating Virtual Care into Your Employee Benefits Strategy
Here’s how forward-thinking HR and benefits teams can align their strategy with this research:
Stratify your workforce using available health risk data or chronic condition indicators.
Expand access to virtual primary care for high-risk groups, removing cost and convenience barriers.
Work with a telehealth or virtual care provider that offers outcome measurement, reporting dashboards, and follow-up care.
Set clear benchmarks including utilization goals, preventive care metrics, and ER avoidance stats.
Hold your vendor accountable with a performance guarantee.
With the right strategy you’re delivering care and outcomes that both employees and leaders love.
FAQs: Primary Care Frequency, Cost Savings & Virtual Care
How many primary care visits per year are ideal for employees? For high-risk employees, the AJMC study suggests that 2+ PCP visits annually can deliver significant cost savings. For others, annual checkups are a strong baseline.
Do virtual visits count toward these savings? Yes. Virtual visits with a board-certified primary care physician can be just as clinically valuable and far more accessible. In many cases, they increase adherence to routine care.
How do I identify which employees should get more PCP support? Start by reviewing chronic condition data, claims reports, or absenteeism patterns. Your virtual care provider may also offer risk stratification or care navigation tools.
Can First Stop Health help track outcomes? Yes. First Stop Health offers reporting that showcase utilization, cost avoidance, satisfaction scores, and engagement trends all tied to your goals.
94% of employers report raising expectations for their vendor partners,
See Why Employers Are Raising the Bar on Virtual Care Providers
The bottom line
Not all care is created equal and not all visits lead to savings. But when employers double down on frequent, accessible primary care for high-risk groups, they unlock better outcomes and real cost containment.
Virtual care providers like First Stop Health make this model sustainable, measurable, and loved by employees.
Want to design a benefits strategy that actually delivers? See how virtual care can drive real results without adding more complexity.