The Fall Family Health Checklist: 5 Ways to Use Your Nice Benefit
Fall has a way of filling the calendar fast.
School is back in session. Activities pick up. The days get shorter. And before long, someone in the house has a cough, a sore throat, or an ache that wasn't there last week.
It's also a good time to remember that Nice can help with much more than the occasional sick visit.
From primary care and lab work to physical therapy, mental health support, and medications, your Nice benefit everyday healthcare easier to fit into everyday life.
Key Takeaways
Nice provides primary care virtually and in person, depending on your care needs, location, and benefit.
You can use Nice for more than colds and flu. Preventive care, ongoing health concerns, physical therapy, mental health support, and medication management may all be available through your benefit.
Many Nice services are available to eligible members with no out-of-pocket cost.
If you're not sure what kind of care you need, Nice is a great place to start.
Why Fall Is a Good Time to Check In
Fall and winter bring more respiratory illness, including influenza, COVID-19, and RSV. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyday prevention strategies and staying up to date on recommended immunizations.
But seasonal illness isn't the only reason to check in.
School schedules, sports, yard work, end-of-year deadlines, and busy family routines can make it easy to put off small health concerns.
Cost can make that harder. A KFF analysis of healthcare affordability found that 36% of U.S. adults said they skipped or postponed needed healthcare because of cost during the previous 12 months.
Why skip care when you can get an appointment quickly and easily?
If you have Nice through your employer, here are five ways your benefit may be able to help this fall.
5 Ways to Use Your Nice Benefit This Fall
From seasonal illness to lingering aches, your Nice Care Team can help with more than you might expect.
Cold, flu, or allergies
Feeling off? Start with primary care for common symptoms like congestion, sore throat, cough, or seasonal allergies.
Preventive care & labs
Catch up on routine checkups, blood work, medication follow-ups, and ongoing health needs.
Aches & pains
Virtual physical therapy can help with back, neck, joint, muscle, mobility, and injury concerns.
Mental health support
Eligible adults can access brief, goal-focused virtual therapy for appropriate mental health needs.
Medication check-in
Review medications with your Nice clinician and see whether your prescription is included at $0.
1. Get Help With Cold, Flu, or Allergy Symptoms
Runny nose? Sore throat? Cough? Congestion?
A virtual primary care visit can help with many everyday symptoms. Your Nice clinician can evaluate what's going on and help determine what kind of care makes sense.
And sometimes what feels like a cold isn't a cold at all.
Seasonal allergies can cause congestion, sneezing, itchy eyes, and other symptoms that overlap with respiratory illnesses. Nice has a helpful guide on how to tell the difference between allergies and a cold.
You don’t have to suffer. Mackenzie K., FNP-C, shared that chronic allergies frequently come up during wellness visits because some members assume they're simply something they have to live with. Once people know Nice may be able to help with evaluation and treatment, they often realize they have more options than they thought.
Nice's primary care services include evaluation and treatment of acute illnesses, along with rapid tests, labs, prescriptions, and in-person care when appropriate.
Related: How to Overcome the Most Common Fall Illnesses
2. Catch Up on Preventive Care and Routine Labs
You don't need to wait until you're sick to use Nice.
Primary care also includes preventive care, managing ongoing conditions, refilling or re-evaluating medications, and keeping an eye on changes in your health.
Nice's primary care services can include physical exams, blood draws, labs, rapid tests, X-rays, disease prevention, and chronic condition management.
You can even see the same provider each time, so you can develop a trusted primary care relationship. A systematic review of continuity in primary care found that greater continuity was associated with higher patient satisfaction, better receipt of preventive services, and fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits.
Ask yourself:
Am I due for a routine checkup?
Have I been putting off blood work?
Do I need to follow up on blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid levels, diabetes, or another ongoing concern?
Is a medication working the way it's supposed to?
One misconception Nice clinicians hear is that members use Nice but still say they "don't really have a PCP."
As Mary R., FNP-C, put it:
"We're your PCP!"
3. Don't Ignore Aches and Pains
Fall often means more activity. Kids are back in sports. Yard work ramps up. Weekend adventures continue.
And suddenly that knee, shoulder, neck, or back starts getting stiff or sore.
Nice's virtual physical therapy can help with concerns like back or neck pain, joint pain or stiffness, sprains and strains, mobility concerns, and injury recovery.
You don’t need to go into a clinic to get great physical therapy. A systematic review of real-time telerehabilitation found that virtual rehabilitation appeared comparable with conventional care for improving physical function and pain across several musculoskeletal conditions.
Nice's own clinical outcomes show similar results. Among patients who completed both intake and discharge measures in an 18-month analysis, Patient-Specific Functional Scale scores improved an average of 3.4 points, and 82% improved by more than two points.
Nice PT patients reported meaningful functional improvement
Among Nice PT patients who completed discharge surveys, 82% improved their Patient-Specific Functional Scale score by more than two points.
That data represents only patients who completed discharge surveys, so it shouldn't be interpreted as an outcome guarantee. But it provides an encouraging look at improvements in real-life activities such as walking, exercising, working, or lifting kids.
Related: Aches & Pains? Why Physical Therapy Could Be the Best Place to Start
4. Check In on Your Mental Health, Too
Shorter days and fuller schedules can affect more than your physical health.
Back-to-school transitions, work deadlines, and the approaching holidays can all add to the mental load.
For some people, changing seasons can affect mood, too. The National Institute of Mental Health notes that some people experience recurring mood changes as daylight decreases during fall and winter.
You don't have to wait until things feel overwhelming to ask for support.
For eligible members age 18 and older, Nice offers virtual mental health therapy designed to provide brief, goal-focused support for appropriate mental health needs.
Help doesn’t have to mean waiting months to travel to an office. A systematic review comparing telehealth and face-to-face psychological interventions found that telehealth interventions appeared to be as effective as the same therapy delivered face to face for anxiety and related conditions.
Nice's approach focuses on brief psychotherapy, helping patients build practical tools and strategies they can continue using beyond treatment.
Related: How Do I Know When to Ask for Help With My Mental Health?
5. Review Your Medications Before the Year Gets Busy
While you’re taking stock of your whole-person health, take time to review your medications and make sure they're still working for you.
Nice clinicians can prescribe a variety of medications, many of which are available at no cost.
And here's something you may not realize:
A medication doesn't necessarily have to be on Nice's included medication list for a Nice clinician to help manage it.
Nice clinicians can prescribe medications outside the included list when medically appropriate. In those cases, normal pharmacy or health plan costs may apply.
Schedule an appointment to::
Review whether a medication is working
Talk through side effects
Ask about dosage or treatment changes
Complete follow-up labs
Revisit a treatment plan
Related: 5 Facts About the Nice Pharmacy Program
Not Sure Where to Start? Start With Nice.
There's one theme that comes up again and again when Nice clinicians talk about what they wish members knew:
You can use Nice for more than you think.
Clinicians hear from members who didn't realize they could ask about chronic allergies, lingering pain, women's health concerns, nutrition, medications, or ongoing health goals.
We’re more than “sick care.” We’re healthcare. Whether you’re dealing with an illness or looking for ways to stay well and optimize health, we’ve got you covered.
And if Nice isn't the right place for the care you need, the Care Team can help you figure out where to go.
A Note for Employers
If you share one thing with employees this fall, consider making it this:
Nice isn’t just for sick visits.
Remind employees to “think Nice first.” It’ll save them time and money.
Nice gives eligible employees and family members access to primary care, physical therapy, mental health therapy, medication support, and care coordination.
