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Two Necessary Results of On-Site Medical Clinics

Posted by Jeremy Cavness on November 11, 2014
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Two Mandatory Results of On-Site Medical Clinics | Employer Healthcare Strategies blogChronic disease and associated complications are typically the main health care cost drivers of businesses today. Burdened with overworked providers, inefficient and wasteful delivery methods, a misaligned reimbursement system, and poor management of health records, the current US health care system isn't providing the level of care, or value, that most employers now expect.

I can't stress the word "value" enough. While it's easy enough to notice that health care costs continue to rise, it's extremely difficult to find a correlating increase in the value of care being provided. In a weird way, it reminds me a little bit of the county fair. Admission and food prices increase every single year, yet the rides are ancient and unsafe, the food is still terrible, and the employees seem as unpleasant as ever.

The point is, employers cannot afford to invest in health care cost containment strategies that lack objectivity or ROI. We've reached a point where it seems that every penny is being put to work and programs that fail to provide relevance will be under immediate "C-level" scrutiny. 

On-site and shared-site primary care clinics are quickly becoming a favorable health plan addition for employers of every size. Whether the goal is to lower health care costs, increase productivity, or boost retention rates, direct primary care is hands-down one of the most effective solutions available. 

That being said, they too must provide measurable results. Here's how:

Necessary Result #1: Utility

The need to provide a useful service seems pretty obvious, but it's not uncommon for companies to get bogged down developing what they believe will be the next best thing in their product offerings. The result is wasted time and resources, and often a total identity crisis.

The on-site medical clinic business is currently being challenged in this regard. As the industry continues to mature, vendors are doing everything they can to meet the wants and needs of current and prospective clients. If not tamed, this "mad race for innovation" can easily compromise everything that made them useful in the first place. 

On-site clinics are designed to solve a company's most pressing health care needs and innovation within the clinic should compliment this objective. It would be unwise to invest in new technologies or processes that do not have direct and positive impact on the utility of the program.

Necessary Result #2: Value

It is possible for a product/service to be useful, but lack value. For instance, many employers start out believing that x-ray is a necessary investment for their on-site clinic (free x-ray is an excellent way to motivate employees to utilize the service). However, after enough data has been provided, clients are often made aware (after the investment) that their organization does not generate enough x-ray volume annually to justify the cost, therefore eliminating the value of an otherwise useful service. 

Specific needs of potential clients vary significantly. This creates an interesting challenge for clinic vendors trying to win new business. The key to success lies in developing a unique value proposition that's driven by the goals of the customer, rather than the goals of the service provider. This can and should be done utilizing past health claims data, as well as identifying the current risk levels within the group. Once the value proposition has been determined, it's critical that all aspects of the sales and implementation process are strategically designed to meet the needs of the client.

It is important to understand that clinic vendors will be expected to display their outcomes as often as possible. The days of investing in on-site clinics simply as a perk for employees are disappearing fast. As budgets have tightened, demonstration of measurable value has clearly become non-negotiable.

How to Achieve Utility and Value

  • On-site medical clinic vendors should fully understand the unique needs of current and potential clients, and then strive to deliver on the expectations put in place. 
  • On-site medical clinics should be part of an integrated, data-driven health and wellness plan that’s defined by specific goals and objectives. The two primary goals of on-site clinics should be to improve the health of employees and to lower the cost of the health plan. Close evaluation of on-site clinics prove that the relationship between these goals is almost always cause-and-effect. By improving the health of employees, health plan costs will decrease.
  • The clinical staff should be aligned vertically with the core health care philosophies of the company. Just like any other great brand, providing value can be as simple as delivering a consistent level of service and quality.
  • On-site medical clinics should remove all barriers to patient access, most importantly cost and inconvenience. 
  • Each clinic should be held accountable for reaching goals in several departments including utilization, health outcomes, quality and compliance, patient communications, and clinical data reporting.
  • All staff, including clinical staff, should understand the important relationship between health outcomes and cost savings. 

on-site clinics - CareATC

Jeremy Cavness

About The Author

Jeremy Cavness

Jeremy is a former CareATC marketing team member.

Post Topics On-Site Medical Clinics