Making Healthcare Personal
Improving healthcare through onsite clinics has become a prominent idea over the last decade. Employers who have an onsite clinic are making healthcare more personal and striving to give employees a better experience. The National Association of Worksite Health Centers defines an onsite clinic as, “A workplace “onsite clinic” is a setting where an employer offers one or more medical and wellness services, delivered by licensed providers, to all or a designated portion of its active population and other eligible individuals. “
Miles Romney and Chris Merrill made this the topic of a recent Biking Brokers podcast episode. In the episode, they are joined by Keith Grames, AVP of Compensation and Benefits at Mountain America Credit Union. Keith and Diversified’s Chris Merrill were guest lecturers at this year’s, “Onsite Employee Health Clinics Summit,” put on by the World Conference forum in Chicago. You can listen to the podcast episode here.
Onsite employee health clinics enable employers to offer competitive benefits, control costs and provide quality healthcare to employees. Mountain America is looking at how it can redefine its corporate healthcare strategy and innovate to bring success.
Removing Barriers to Healthcare
Employers who choose to have an onsite clinic are actively trying to remove barriers to healthcare. That means they are making it easier for their employees to get the care they need. The onsite clinic does this by being in the workplace. Instead of being forced to find time to commute to a doctor’s appointment, employees can see someone onsite. This is a major time-saving mechanism. If there is an employee who does not know which doctor they would like to see, they can go to the onsite clinic and find someone they feel comfortable with. Providing acute care quickly for things like a scratchy throat is an important way onsite clinics keep the entire staff healthier.
Making Healthcare Accessible
One thing Mountain America did before the covid pandemic began was introduce Teladoc and offer it to all members. This was positive once the pandemic began. The pandemic has changed the way people view virtual care. It has also made everyone adapt to the virtual model very quickly. As far as the hours of the onsite clinic, they are set up around business hours.
On-site Clinic Pharmacy
Pharmacy is one of the biggest growth areas. Drug prices are insane. The highest price we’ve seen at Diversified for one drug is $2.18 million dollars for one person. That’s a lot of money. The clinic gives us some opportunities to manage care using pharmacy. The clinic is helping people getting the prescriptions they need and remove price from the equation. By providing it for free, it offsets itself. You may get it cheaper than going to the Walgreens of the world by getting it wholesale.
Mountain America has a middle-class population of members. One of the main goals of an onsite pharmacy is to help people take their medication when they should. For example, an employee forgot to call to refill her prescription and the onsite pharmacy did it for her automatically and had it delivered to her desk.
Using Data to Provide Better Care
Mountain America is utilizing the power of the data. Looking at the health history of the workforce helps make future health decisions. Looking at claims data, employers know who is sick with the help of Artificial Intelligence. Using all of the technology available, they can tell if a person is going to end up in the Emergency Room with 90% accuracy. Having data and the freedom to create your own formula that is impactful to your own population is huge. Mountain America has seen great results with its onsite clinic.
Looking to the future of onsite healthcare clinics, it’s using data to figure out how to treat people. If you want to get in touch with the Diversified Benefits team to discuss any questions, go here.
Connect with our Guest:
Keith Grames, AVP of Compensation and Benefits at Mountain America Credit Union: LinkedIn