“If Amazon follows through with plans to build clinics for its workers, it would join a parade of large employers putting health centers at the worksite.” – Bruce Japsen, Amazon’s Clinics Join U.S. Employer Push Into Worksite Healthcare, Forbes
Amazon’s plans to open an on-site medical clinic at their headquarters in Seattle is big news for organizations looking for creative healthcare solutions of their own. A recent article in Forbes evaluates the move as it relates to the growing trend of workplace clinics across the country.
In the last five years, the number of large employers who offer a general medical clinic to their employees has increased from 24% to 33%, according to Mercer’s 2017 National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Plans.
Why the shift? Mercer’s worksite clinic consulting group leader David Keyt believes clinics offer employers a way to combat the high cost of healthcare without sacrificing benefits. “Worksite clinics offering primary care services have the potential to cost-effectively address other pressing problems with current US health care,” says Keyt. He notes that those problems include poor access to routine care, pharmacy cost, lack of coordinated and patient-centered treatment models, and fee-for-service payment mechanisms that reward quantity over quality among others. Let’s take a look at how an effective on-site clinic addresses some these problems.
Eligible employees have full access to a clinic that’s just minutes away from their desk. That means patients get the care they need when they need it, not just when they can work it into their busy schedule.
But access shouldn’t just mean a quick commute. It should mean more time with providers and health coaches during appointments that average 30 minutes to an hour.
At many on-site clinics, generic prescriptions are free and/or filled right onsite, so patients don’t have to go across town to be able to get the medication they need.
On-site clinics are focused on caring for your employee population alone. This allows the clinic care team to focus on personalized care for each patient in a way that wouldn't be possible at another clinic. Empathetic listening practices ensure that each patient’s care plan acknowledges the patient’s goals and barriers to better health.
When a patient’s needs extend beyond the clinic, providers work to find high-quality low-cost specialists so that their patients always get the care they need. After a patient receives specialty care, staff and providers at their on-site clinic coordinate their return so that their care seamlessly transitions from clinic to specialist and back again.
Want to find out how Vera meets the challenges of better access, coordinated care, dedicated care teams, and free prescriptions? Check out our white paper Delivering Managed Care the Way It Was Intended.