Having trouble with this email? Click here to view it as a webpage.

January 12, 2023

Online Doctors | Importance of Updating Earnings |

In Your Community

Online Doctors: Equipping the Workplace for Cold & Flu Season

Cold and flu season is upon us! It is that time of year again when Human Resource professionals and business owners need to prepare for time-off requests and unexpected employee absenteeism.

The average employee takes 8.5 sick days per year, resulting in $2,000 of direct absence costs per employee.¹ Having a virtual care service (Online Doctors) in place can help mitigate some of the challenges that are parcel and part with cold and flu season.

(1. Stats Canada, 2019; assumes an average salary of $60,000.)

It is estimated that 76% of all medical issues can be addressed through remote treatment, further relieving the strained Saskatchewan Health Care system.

Saskatchewan Blue Cross proudly partners with Maple, Canada’s leading virtual care provider to offer Online Doctors. Together with Maple, we are bringing employees a fully coordinated patient experience.

While Online Doctors is not well suited for emergency situations that require acute in-person care, like a broken leg, for routine medical issues, including colds, flus, earaches, prescription refills, and other common conditions, virtual care allows employees to connect with a provider and get care quickly without having to leave home.

What are some of the most common, seasonal conditions that can be treated with Maple?

Colds	Flus	Rashes
Cold sores	Food poisoning	Sinus infections
Eye infections	Headaches	Sore throat
Fevers	Pink eye	...and more

Doctors and nurse practitioners on Maple’s virtual platform can prescribe almost any medication they deem necessary, excluding controlled substances.

Ready to learn more? Reach out to your broker, Account Executive or use the button below.

Learn More

Importance of Updating Earnings

Thorough review, updating and reporting salary information is vital for:

Accurate assessment of disability claims
Timely production of renewal documents
Ensuring salary-based benefits are accurate as they as used to calculate the premiums being collected for these benefits

Options for reporting a salary change:

Plan Administrators can update member salaries on the Group Administrator Portal
A member change form can be submitted to the Client Experience Centre to be processed
An email can be forwarded to groupservicecentre@sk.bluecross.ca with the mass salary change information including the members names, ID number, the new salary, and effective date of the change
A Salary Verification Report is sent to Plan Administrators each year (in advance of your annual renewal). Changes can be communicated on this report.

Don’t forget – to update the number of hours worked per week for those employees that have hourly based salaries.

In your community

Saskatchewan Blue Cross

Employee Giving Program

Saskatchewan Blue Cross employees are passionate about giving time, money and skills to address the issues facing our province. Our employees and their personal contributions make our communities stronger.

In support of our employees’ generous involvement in local charitable activities, we are proud to announce the launch of our Employee Giving Program which includes both a matching gift contribution and a volunteer program.

To support our employees’ passion for giving, Saskatchewan Blue Cross will be matching employee monetary donations dollar-for-dollar, up to $250 for employees annually. For those employees who choose to volunteer their time at a charitable organization, Saskatchewan Blue Cross will provide a financial contribution to the employee’s charity of choice at a rate of $10/hour, up to $250/calendar year.

Also, each Saskatchewan Blue Cross employee receives one paid day off to volunteer with a charitable organization of their choice during a regular workday.

We are looking forward to seeing our employees giving back to their community this year.

Upcoming Closures

Saskatchewan Blue Cross will be closed on the following days:

February 20, 2023