In this issue:
Worksite Health Clinics Put New Focus on Employee Health
There is growing evidence that worksite wellness programs provide positive returns for organizations that implement them well. As reported in 2010 Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Health Affairs, “Medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall about $2.73 for every dollar spent” when workplace wellness programs are in place.
With a rise in chronic medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, employers are faced with mounting healthcare costs and a less healthy workforce. As a result, employers are increasingly looking to on-site health clinics as a way to gain control, not only of healthcare costs, but employee health behaviors as well.
Worksite clinics, once common in manufacturing plants, vary widely in size and scope, depending on the size of the employer and its needs. Worksite clinics can have full primary-care responsibilities, and even be the primary care provider for a worker’s dependents.
With a worksite clinic, employees have fast and easy access to affordable primary care services, convenient medical care, common generic prescriptions and disease prevention services. Additionally, readily available healthcare providers and prevention/wellness programs encourage participation, reduce lost work hours and facilitate return to work. This is vastly different from a typical primary care physician encounter, which may be 10 minutes or less providing little time or follow-up to effect healthy behavioral changes.
Studies have demonstrated that a clinic serving a thousand or more employees could potentially save $1.5 million to $2 million a year by decreasing hospital emergency room and specialist physician visits and by increasing productivity. Some employees may be concerned about the privacy of their medical records, but Inova can guarantee a privacy firewall and maintain full HIPAA compliance.
As noted by Ellen Kessler, Medical Director, Inova Occupational Health, “Almost any size company can implement on-site programs to improve wellness and cut costs. The range of options is scalable to the size of the company.” For more information, please contact Jeff Carr, Senior Director, Corporate Health Services, Inova Health System, 703-204-6345, Jeffrey.carr@inova.org.
Managing Employee Health to Lower Employer Costs
Were you aware that employee benefit expenses are second only to payroll for most employers? Rising health care costs and the potential financial impact of health care reform are leading more than half of employers to step up their efforts to engage employees in actively managing their health.
According to the Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies, a company investment of $100-$150 per employee per year in helping employees better manage their health can save companies $300-$450 for each employee.
The 2011 Employer Survey on Purchasing Value in Health Care Report conducted by Towers Watson shows that leading companies are building employee health and well-being into their organization’s platform for delivering the business outcomes they strive to achieve. They recognize the strong correlation between employee health and positive financial and operational results – a health dividend that includes lower costs, as well as improved performance and overall business success.
Company’s of all sizes can control costs by identifying wellness initiatives and disease management through the following tactics, among others:
- Health Risk Assessment – Once an individual completes a HRA written questionnaire, they usually receive a report, detailing their health rating or score, often broken down into specific sub scores and areas such as stress, nutrition and fitness. The report can also provide recommendations on how individuals can reduce their health risks by changing their lifestyle. In addition to individual feedback, HRAs are also used to provide aggregated data reporting for employers and organizations. These organization-level reports can then be used to provide a first step by which organizations can target and monitor appropriate health interventions within their workforce.
- Targeted Interventions – Providing onside wellness programs that include physical activity, smoking cessation, weight management, stress reduction, health coaching and immunization, have been shown to be effective for the employee and yield a positive ROI for the employer.
- Employee Incentives – Rewards, such as financial incentives, for maintenance of a lower-risk status.
The Towers Watson survey notes that successful companies emphasize the use of data to evaluate programs, address areas that need improvement and target future investments. These companies also integrate their health plan data with absence, disease management, salary/wages and program participation metrics, and make decisions based on a host of measures, such as health outcomes, predictive modeling and hard-dollar investments.
People who successfully manage their health and well-being tend to do better in the work place. They are more productive and have higher morale. They also incur fewer expenses for you, their employer.
Inova Health Works provides free health risk assessments and a cost saving analysis for your company. To schedule a free service and learn about the customized onsite wellness programs designed and implemented by Inova HealthWorks, www.inova.org/healthworks, please contact Jeff Carr, Senior Director, Corporate Health Services, Inova Health System, 703-2046345, Jeffrey.carr@inova.org.
The Growing Trend in Concierge Medicine
Many believe that the days of physician house calls and the tender, personalized care that accompanied them are long gone. MedCity News, an online publication specializing in the healthcare industry, reports, however, “out of America’s modern world of healthcare, a new, trend of medicine is emerging. Called concierge or boutique medicine, this fast growing concept requires that patients pay an annual retainer, or fee, similar to those that attorneys charge clients."
As noted by MedCity News, "In exchange for the annual fee, patients enjoy same-day appointments with no more long hours in waiting rooms full of others doing the same. Doctors actually know their patients. Patients have access to their personal physicians 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and are not burdened by calling a central line with recorded instructions. A carefully selected, well-trained medical staff works along with each patient and the doctor to ensure patients experience customized, personal healthcare at each visit.”
Concierge medicine breathes new life into the trusting doctor-patient relationship by improving the quality of patient care and care coordination, empowering patients as health care consumers and reducing the cost of healthcare through diligent management of emerging health risks and chronic conditions.
With Inova VIP 360’s commitment to personalized, preventive care – our physician to patient ratio is 200: 1 and the average internal medicine physician to patient ration is 2,500-4,000: 1 – combined with our location at Inova Fairfax Hospital, one of the nation’s top hospitals, you are assured direct access to Inova’s world-class, leading-edge healthcare and research.
With the focus on prevention becoming more and more important, Craig Cheifetz, MD, Medical Director, Inova VIP 360, Inova Health System’s concierge practice, “We provide the gift of time to people.” For more information www.inova.org/VIP360 or to tour the facility and meet with a physician at no cost, please call 703-776-7005.
