The post-healthcare reform environment is causing more businesses of all sizes to consider worksite clinics as a means to contain health costs and improve employee productivity. Worksite clinic operators say they are expecting near-term growth as more employers sign on.
Related: Read "Healthcare reform: What now?"
A recent survey from Mercer, a New York-based human resources consultant, found that worksite clinics are becoming an increasingly popular way to control healthcare spending and even enhance employee productivity.
Until recently, worksite clinics were primarily used by Fortune 500 companies, but observers say the trend is spreading to local governments and mid-size companies of 250 or more employees.
Healthcare analyst Brian Klepper reviewed the claims data on the first 3 months after a New Jersey school district implemented a worksite clinic through Integrity Health and WeCare for nearly 2,200 employees and their families. The annualized average cost per employee, not including drugs, dropped by 19.8 percent, or about $4.35 million.
Major players in the worksite clinic market include WeCare TLC, Walgreen Co. and IMC HealthCare Inc.
Kansas City, Mo.-based Cerner Corp., an international healthcare technology corporation, estimates there are 7,600 corporations in the U.S. that might benefit from a worksite clinic.
Worksite clinics provide employees an incentive to see a doctor at the clinic rather than making a claim against the insurance plan. Generally, care and drugs are free. How extensive the care is depends in part on whether nurse practitioners or doctors staff the clinics, which varies from company to company.