On-Site Clinic NewsON-SITE CLINIC NEWSLETTER

The Newsletter for Employer-Managed Healthcare
In This Issue
Sometimes It's An Uphill Battle
"Virtual" Office Visits
AHIP Session on On-Site Clinics
Quick Links
Join Our List
Join Our Mailing List
Upcoming Meetings
 
 
 
July 19 - 20, Boston
 
Vol. 7 No. 1June 2010

Greetings!           

Technology advances - the iPad confirms what all of us were thinking - what next?  How far can we go?  This week, it was the iPhone IV.  We don't have to look back generations to point to someone who would never have believed what we can do today; we need only look at our own parents.
 
And, it isn't just the I-Technology -- it is "my technology".  The future of healthcare will include the use of "virtual" physician visits and it will tap into my own e-commerce health savings account.  If I am paying for it and getting the stuff on-line, shouldn't I have my own medical record?  To the consumer, the answer seems obvious.  It is also obvious to Google and Microsoft who are both working to make the patient medical home more "patient" oriented and less about where the "home" is controlled.  There is no doubt about it.  Change is emerging from consumers and employers, not from the government and the providers. 
 
See what's happening in our notes below.
Sometimes It's An Uphill Battle
Surveys abound, and we certainly refer to many of  them in this newsletter.  But, they often provide information which helps us re-focus our efforts in a more positive direction.
 
The National Business Group on Health commissioned a survey using focus groups conducted in late 2007 regarding how patients feel about the use of evidence-based medicine.  The results are surprising and illuminating.  One of the huge advantages of on-site clinics is the ability to better manage healthcare overall, to provide that "medical home" where the primary care physician can guide and coordinate all efforts made on behalf of the patient to treat and hopefully prevent health issues.  There are obstacles, of course.  Many are within the control of the provider and employer in the way that they design the system.  However, employee attitudes are critical in the success of the healthcare service. 
 
This latest survey, just published in the journal of Health Affairs, shows that patients believe:  more care is better than less; modern technology translates to "best care"; and, more expensive care is obviously higher quality care. 
 
This sends a daunting message to employers - how do you change those attitudes and gain acceptance for the use of evidence-based medicine?   The National Business Group on Health has a toolkit on its Web site to help you communicate more effectively.  You need to be aware of this information and your on-iste program needs to have a major commitment to educating consumers who are obviously misguided and misinformed about key issues and critical facts regarding the "more is better" syndrome.  This is an area which demands diligence, commitment and innovation.
"Virtual" Office Visits and On-site Clinics

When we think of "virtual" office visits, the picture that often comes to mind is that of a person in a remote location being provided with health care from a practitioner potentially thousands of miles away, for unusual circumstances, right?   Well, with technology constantly improving and a great number of businesses and their employees located some distance from specialty care, the use of high definition video conferencing might be "just what the doctor ordered" for on-site clinics to provide much more convenient access to specialists for their patients.

The potential is huge for many pediatric specialties (which are often only available in very large cities) and other areas like neuro, endocrinology, etc.  Not only is it more convenient, but the employee could probably be seen sooner and take less time away from work.  This also fits right into the "narrow network" concept, increasing the on-site clinic's capabilities to expand the network to hard-to-find specialists when local access is a challenge.
 
There are also pioneering efforts in mental health and EAP that will be profiled in upcoming issues.  The obvious examples of this trend are being demonstrated by the Mayo Clinic and with technology pioneered by CISCO.  However, more and more vendors see this as a new avenue for service provision.  For the consumer take on this see the recent article in the New York Times about the use of telemedicine at this link.
 
The challenge is to actually move this from potential to practical and that is still a work in progress.  Right now, it is a solution that needs to be fit to the challenge and not a universal panacaea for health care access issues. 
AHIP Session on Employer On-Site Clinics

One of the sessions at the AHIP conference (Institute 2010) in Las Vegas next week will be "The Emergence of Retail and Employer On-Site Clinics in Primary Care".  The speakers will include Cheryl Pegus, Chief Medical Officer, Walgreens.   To see the entire Institute schedule, click here.  And, don't forget that there are two conferences in July that are dedicated to the concept of on-site programming,  See our side-banner for details and links to each.

For more on-site clinic news, visit our Web site at www.onsiteclinics.org .
 
Sincerely,

Mike La Penna
 
The La Penna Group, Inc.