For PAR, improving employee healthcare meant making existing benefits easier to access, expanding support where gaps existed and giving employees one familiar place to start.
For HR leaders, building a competitive benefits package is one challenge. Making sure employees actually use those benefits is another.
Employees may have access to multiple healthcare programs, yet still struggle to find a therapist, establish a relationship with a primary care physician or determine where to turn when a health concern comes up.
Karen Falconer, VP of HR at PAR, knows how easily those challenges can affect the employee experience.
“My goal as an HR professional is to make my employees' jobs as easy as possible to do,” she shares.
At PAR, that philosophy has helped shape an evolving partnership with First Stop Health, beginning with virtual urgent care and expanding to mental health support and primary care.
The guiding principle? Make healthcare easier to navigate so employees can focus on their health rather than figuring out how to access it.
When PAR considered how to improve mental health support, the organization already had a resource employees knew and trusted: First Stop Health's virtual Urgent Care.
But mental health support existed elsewhere, adding another destination for employees to navigate.
“We had another option for mental health support, and there's just a lot of places for employees to go for things. It can create confusion.”
Karen also heard from employees who wanted mental healthcare but were struggling to find available appointments. Long waits could discourage people from seeking support altogether.
Rather than introduce another unfamiliar service, PAR saw an opportunity to build on a trusted existing relationship and added First Stop Health Mental Health.
“It just made sense to combine the two so that they had access in the same place, same platform.”
For employees, that meant a familiar starting point for both physical and mental health needs.
Healthcare access isn't only about whether a service is covered. It's also about how quickly and conveniently someone can use it.
Karen had seen employees turn to emergency rooms for concerns that didn't necessarily require emergency-level treatment. Those visits could mean lengthy waits, additional stress and higher costs.
Mental health presented a different challenge: employees sometimes faced significant delays getting an appointment with a therapist.
PAR wanted employees to have practical alternatives for appropriate healthcare needs.
“Having access to mental health resources quickly ... when they really needed it was really critical for our employees.”
Karen also appreciated that First Stop Health offered mental health coaching alongside therapy.
Not everyone seeking support is experiencing a serious mental health concern. Some employees want help navigating everyday challenges or developing healthier habits.
For PAR, coaching aligned naturally with one of the organization's core values: learn and grow.
Karen saw it as an opportunity for employees to explore personal growth and well-being in ways they might not otherwise have considered.
For Karen, employee feedback is an important indicator of whether a healthcare benefit is delivering value.
At PAR, the response to First Stop Health has been encouraging.
“Our utilization is incredible because our employees really, really do appreciate it and take advantage of it and use it.”
Karen points to positive employee comments, strong engagement and support from PAR's leadership team.
She even describes the company's CEO as one of First Stop Health's biggest advocates.
That enthusiasm matters because benefits are most useful when employees know they exist, trust the experience and feel comfortable returning when another need arises.
By bringing multiple services into a platform employees already used, PAR could build on that familiarity rather than repeatedly introduce a new healthcare resource.
As PAR continued evaluating its benefits, Karen discovered something unexpected.
Some employees didn't have a primary care physician.
Others had lost access to their longtime provider after a practice change or a move to concierge care. Establishing care with someone new could involve waiting months for an appointment.
“We realized we did have a gap in people that were actually seeking primary care, and that was kind of shocking to us.”
The feedback prompted PAR to consider how virtual primary care could help employees establish more consistent access to routine healthcare.
Employees also expressed interest in women's healthcare services, particularly for needs that didn't necessarily require a traditional OB-GYN appointment.
These conversations contributed to PAR's decision to expand its First Stop Health offerings through Complete Care which includes Primary Care, Urgent Care, and Mental Health.
For Karen, it was another opportunity to address a real employee need while building on a platform people already trusted.
Benefits professionals spend their days navigating healthcare programs. Employees don't.
They're balancing work responsibilities, family commitments and everything else competing for their attention.
Karen recognizes that even well-intentioned benefits packages can become complicated when employees need to remember multiple platforms, providers and processes.
“We think as HR people, of course, it's not that hard to keep track of all these different things because they're so important, your benefits. But they're tied up in a thousand different ways.”
For PAR, bringing services together made the experience more straightforward.
“I love that it's all one place and we already have a trusted relationship.”
That familiarity can make it easier for employees to take the first step, whether they're looking for urgent care, mental health support or a primary care appointment.
The lesson for employers isn't necessarily to offer fewer benefits. It's to consider how easily employees can navigate the benefits they have.
For employers, healthcare access and cost containment are often discussed as separate priorities.
Karen sees opportunities for the two to work together.
Before First Stop Health, PAR had employees visiting emergency rooms for relatively minor concerns that could potentially be addressed through a more appropriate care setting.
Those visits were costly for the health plan and inconvenient for employees.
Virtual urgent care gave employees another place to turn for nonemergency concerns.
Karen believes that alternative has helped PAR better manage unnecessary emergency room use while saving employees time and frustration.
As the organization expands into primary care, she also sees opportunities to address healthcare needs without requiring an in-person visit for every concern.
For PAR, the value extends beyond potential claims savings.
Employees may spend less time traveling to appointments or sitting in waiting rooms, making it easier to fit appropriate care into their schedules.
Karen also sees responsible healthcare spending as an opportunity to preserve resources that can support employees in other ways.
Employees aren't the only ones who benefit when healthcare is easier to navigate.
For HR leaders, managing benefits requires ongoing communication, troubleshooting and coordination with vendors.
Karen says responsive account support has been another important part of PAR's experience.
She highlights her First Stop Health Client Success Manager, Karol, who has helped answer questions, connect her with the appropriate teams, and support PAR as its offerings have evolved.
“I've never had a question that she hasn't answered right away.”
For a smaller organization where employees manage multiple responsibilities, that responsiveness makes a difference.
It means Karen has a dependable point of contact when questions arise, rather than another administrative obstacle to navigate.
PAR's healthcare strategy grew through employee feedback, changing needs and a willingness to build on what was already working.
First, employees became comfortable with virtual Urgent Care. Then PAR expanded mental health support to make care easier to access. After identifying gaps in primary care, the organization decided to broaden its offerings again.
Throughout that process, Karen has stayed focused on a practical question:
Are we making it easier for employees to get the care they need?
It's a useful question for any employer evaluating healthcare benefits.
Because a successful benefits strategy isn't measured only by the number of services available. It's also reflected in whether employees understand those services, feel comfortable using them and can get support when they need it.
For Karen and the PAR team, that has meant creating a simpler, more connected healthcare experience, one that continues to evolve alongside their employees' needs.
Meet the people behind the care and learn more about the First Stop Health care experience.