How much does a custom on-site clinic cost?

The costs are determined by the demand of the employer population, claims utilization, types of targeted treatments, and the number of medical staff needed to effectively treat a given group.

What is the size of the custom on-site clinic?

The size of the clinic is determined by the number of needed examination rooms, lab service demand and patient traffic.  No two clinics are identical.

What are the cost savings?

The targeted savings are approximately 2.5 times the cost of the clinic.  There are also empirical savings that result from improved productivity and reduced absenteeism.

The clinic "per office visit" cost to the employer is approximately one-third of the cost if paid through the health plan.  The convenience and accessibility of the clinic saves employees time away from work; less time away from work improves productivity. 

Pharmaceutical drug samples are free to the clinic and free to the patient/employee.  The use of drug samples avoids claims costs to the medical or dental plan; using samples can also prevent cost waste from filling a prescription that doesn't work.

Clinics also provide on-site managed care of chronic illness and early detection of illness with same-day treatment, often shortening the duration of an illness.  Accessibility of care can also help avoid potentially larger claims to the health plan.

Where is the custom clinic located?

The clinic is located on the employer's worksite.

Why would employers and employees want to use the clinic?

The close proximity of the clinic provides convenience and less time away from work.  Services in the clinic are free to employees.  Patients/employees can receive drug prescriptions and have lab work, all in a safe and easy-to-access clinic whose quality and follow-up care they can trust.

Is employee medical information kept confidential?

All services are completely confidential and protected by HIPAA privacy regulations.  The clinics use paperless records management through a secure, firewalled electronic health records system.  No detailed information is ever provided to the employer to indicate who has been treated, what diagnosis has been made, the number of visits or any identifiable data, such as date of birth, gender or location.

What is a nurse practitioner?

The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners explains what a nurse practitioner does.  Please visit the Academy's website at www.aanp.org for more information.

The first phone call is the first step in building the relationship between the patient and the practitioner.  The initial call enables the practitioner to assess the urgency and the illness to schedule appropriately.  Our clinic practitioners do not make appointments via email. 

The services provided in the clinic are primary care.  Patients/employees come to the clinic for colds, sore throats, migraines, flu, urinary tract infections, bladder infections and skin irritations, for example.

The clinic also provides well care, physicals, health screening, coaching and referrals for fitness, nutrition, smoking cessation and behavioral health.

In addition, the clinic provides chronic care follow up and education on conditions such as diabetes, asthma, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and sexually transmitted diseases.

Other services include blood draws, urine testing, certain laboratory tests, pre-pregnancy education, nutrition and resource referral.

Can employees still use the health benefit plan?

Yes, employees may still use their medical benefits.  The clinic is not designed to replace the health plan, but instead to complement and augment the medical benefits.

Because the clinic is on site, employees seek treatment for episodic care, prescription fills, injuries or education, for example.  Many services can be provided in the clinic, but employees are encouraged to keep their health plan for catastrophic or chronic issues.

The clinic is a care "partner" with the employee's other care providers and, if authorized by the patient,  will send and receive treatment records, lab results and prescription information to those care providers.