5 Reasons Why Municipalities Should Consider The Vera Advanced Primary Care Model When Planning a Benefit Strategy

To stay competitive in today’s job market, municipalities need to invest in the health of their workforce. Otherwise, they risk losing talent to competing companies and being unprepared for unexpected challenges like pandemics.

Vera Whole Health’s advanced primary care (APC) model changes the game. Here are five ways our model helps municipalities achieve their health goals and thrive:

1. Attracting (and retaining) employees

According to a survey from Glassdoor, 80% of those surveyed would rather have additional benefits than a pay increase.

To keep up with the substantial benefits packages offered by competing companies (and to attract talent), municipalities can adopt the APC model to:

• Provide conveniently located care centers that give members access to the majority of care they need, including lab work, prescriptions, and preventive care
• Utilize Vera health coaches that help patients focus on their whole health
• Offer enhanced virtual care and telehealth services along with in-person experiences for greater convenience
• Tailor benefits to specific members

As a result, members feel their employer actually cares about them and their health, which leads to a closer relationship and less turnover.

2. Providing a medical home

Patient-centered medical homes are not a new idea, but they have received a new life by being paired with the benefits of APC.

When a care center acts as a medical home, your members are guaranteed clear and convenient access to a single location, or a regional network, for the majority of the care they need. And with the addition of health navigation tools through the combination of Vera and Castlight Health, providers and behavior change coaches have a more comprehensive understanding of a patient’s health journey.

3. Increasing member engagement

When members have access to higher quality benefits and greater convenience, engagement skyrockets.

With the Vera APC model, municipalities like the City of Everett saw the number of employees engaged with the care center reach 40%, preventive visits by employees increased by 25%, and a patient satisfaction rating of  4.76/5 — all within the first year.

4. Navigating unexpected challenges

Most employers would be hard-pressed to imagine a scenario more challenging to improving health outcomes than the pandemic. 

Ensuring the safety and well-being of members meant leadership had to consider everything from testing and onsite rules, to work-from-home schedules, and care plans for when infections occurred.

When care is fully integrated into one medical home providing APC services, coordinating every care touchpoint is streamlined. This makes it far easier to adapt when the unexpected happens.

5. Addressing rising costs

Placing the Vera APC model at the center of a benefit strategy can reduce costs while increasing benefits.

If that sounds impossible, consider our partnership with the City of Kirkland. Together, we built a benefit model that reduced monthly costs by $137 per member. How? By providing whole health and preventive care for members in one convenient location so members have easier access to the care they need.

Want to learn more about positioning Vera Whole Health at the center of your benefit strategy? Download our free resource: