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| Vol 2 No. 4 |
February 2010 |
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Greetings!
This is an exciting issue for us because it allows us to announce the launch of our updated Web site at www.onsiteclinics.org. The Web site now has a blog feature and allows us to provide readers with more up-to-date news between newsletters. Check it out and let us know what you think. If you are a vendor or resource listed on the site, we would appreciate any feedback or updates to your material to make it more accurate and timely. And, feel free to post a comment on any news or articles we provide. We want this site to become the place to go to for current information and ideas related to on-site health care services. |
| Hospitals Providing On-site Services |
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Hospitals and health systems are continuing to move into the "workplace health space" and Wheaton Franciscan Health Services in Racine, Wisconsin is a great example to study. They have provided on-site care for the City and the County of Racine, and now they are adding the school district employees. On January 26th, the Racine Unified School District announced that they were initiating an employee clinic with the assistance of the Wheaton organization. This is very significant since it is a result of a collective bargaining process in which the union members were actively involved in considering alternatives for their benefit package. The on-site program is reaching mainstream acceptance in Wisconsin, and this is another example of something that shows that the idea is one that is solid, no matter who is managing the process.
To quote the announcement: "District officials hope the clinic, which will serve Unified employees and retirees and their families, will ultimately pay for itself and then some, helping to lower the district's overall health care costs. The school board approved the clinic Monday in a 7-0 vote. According to the school board meeting agenda packet, the clinic is an effort 'to provide district employees with quality and convenient health care and to control health care costs.' The clinic will be like similar clinics established for city and county employees, which have resulted in health care savings, said Dave Hazen, Unified's chief financial officer." |
| Health Care Reform - Impact on Costs |
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Our own professional concerns over the ability of the legislation currently under consideration in Congress to truly reduce health care costs overall have now been confirmed in a study by Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health (employer survey) and a correlating survey by Towers Watson independently of employees only.
These two studies revealed: Both employers and employees have concerns that legislation currently proposed would negatively impact upon costs and benefits, alike. Seventy-one percent of employers felt that regulation would increase the cost of health care services, and a similar number felt it would increase the cost of benefit programs in general.
To quote Helen Darling, president of the National Business Group on Health, "These survey data confirm quantitatively what many people - employers, employees and policy pundits - have been talking about for the past four months. That is, whatever else a health care reform plan might do, it is unlikely to control health care costs, which has everyone worried."
This just takes us right straight back to the value of wellness programs incorporated into on-site services - one of the most significant ways that can be documented to actually improve health and well-being for employees while reducing/controlling costs for employers. |
| For more on-site clinic news, visit our Web site at www.onsiteclinics.org . | |
Toyota is expanding on-site clinic resources at its manufacturing plant in Putnam County. This will be their third plant site with on-site services. Their sites are managed by TakeCare Employer Health Solutions, You can find the link for additional information on our Web site www.onsiteclinics.org which details the complex process that they are pursuing. In this case, they have to ask for permission to implement on-site care at the State level due to CON (certificate of need) regulations. This highlights two important themes - regulation and the determination of employers who are focused on their employee health to move on-site clinics into the mainstream of health care. Toyota, for all of its recent PR challenges, should be lauded for continuing to move on-site programming forward. (Disclosure - I own a Prius and a Sequoia!). Sincerely,
Mike La Penna
The La Penna Group, Inc.
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ON-SITE CLINIC NEWSLETTER