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| Vol. 9 No. 1 | September 2010 | |
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Greetings!
Summer is drawing to a close, and fall will be upon us all soon. These past few weeks have been unusually hot in the Midwest, and you can't help but notice that things are moving a little slower outside (except at the beach!).
News about employer-managed healthcare and on-site clinics does not seem to slow down, however. The refractive period that seemed to have employers wondering and waiting is over. The self-funded community now has enough information to be able to judge whether there will be some kind of impact for their proposed clinic program, or not. (HINT: Probably not, unless the employer is very small in size or small-minded when it comes to the value of their employees and their health status.)
Just because we write a newsletter does not mean that you should trust what we say. However, you can trust what the reporters at the Wall Street Journal say in their article entitled: "Employers Weigh Onsite Clinics As Insured Ranks Set To Grow" (published on August 26). It says what we know to be the case - that the self-insured firm needs to do anything it can to insulate its benefits cost structure in the future. Primarily, the article focuses on primary care access and the problems that will occur simply getting health care. We think it will be much more than just access and that the entire system will be changing in ways in which we can all only speculate.
In any case, there are pundits that think that something like 20% of the self-funded employees and dependents are going to be covered "on-site" or by alternative site care (think retail and the off-shoots of retail). If this is the case, it will be a game-changer for hospitals and insurance companies.
In that vein, keep reading to see how hospitals and insurance companies are continuing to explore this critical market space. Also, we are updating the Web site www.onsiteclinics.org to reflect new programs and the blog features that are already there. If you have comments, ideas, complaints, or questions, all are encouraged and welcomed! |
| New Market Entries Mean New Jobs and New Titles | | |
We all know that the economy isn't so great these days and that jobs are hard to find most everywhere. So, when we spotted an ad for an "Employee Health Director" on the North Carolina Medical Group Management Association's "Job Postings" link, we perked up and paid attention. A job?...in management?...in Employee Health?...we had to look further.
The job is for the Carolinas HealthCare System - okay, more interest now. The "description" includes the following: "This is a new position and new division for CHS. The Employer Health Director will be responsible for the oversight and operational management of CHS on-site health centers. This position will manage several different on-site medical models and be responsible for new development with the region." Preferred skills included "Understanding of the economic trends in medicine with employer managed healthcare."
If you check out the Carolinas HealthCare System Web site, you'll discover how big it is (with 32 affiliated hospitals in North and South Carolina). This is a very large healthcare system recognizing that on-site clinics are here to stay and that they need to be involved in a significant way. They're trying to hire someone to manage multiple on-site clinics for employers. Seems to me that this is just another signal that there is "no turning back" now. On-site clinics are becoming more mainstream with every new employer (and new provider) that participates. |
| Case Study: Cigna Goes On-Site Big Time |
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The Wall Street Journal article referenced in the first panel gives us a segue to talk about Cigna as a provider, as well as an insurer. As most of the readership of this newsletter is aware, the first articles that addressed on-site care on a national level (Wall Street Journal, New York Times, etc.) had to search for examples, and they came up with the pioneers that did it themselves. You all know them - QuadGraphics, Rosen Hotels, Gillette, Perdue, Pitney Bowes, etc. The most recent article highlights the Cigna Clinic at the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department and, of course, the many Walgreen's locations around the country.
How times have changed! The industry and the efforts that actually started with a handful of visionaries some decades ago are now mainstream. Insurers like Aetna, Cigna, and many Blue Cross entities are joining hospital systems and the many fine vendors in delivering a different kind of care on-site and at work to employed work forces with unique needs. |
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Pioneers like ROSEN are still leading the way |
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After a while, it seems like the opportunity to meet someone "new" in this industry is limited to meeting someone who is actually new to the industry. However, there are still people who are pioneers that are quietly going about the business of giving good care to their employees and their families in an on-site environment and who have done this on an independent basis. We have to remember that the many vendors who now pile on us in our e-mail and who populate our spam filters were not the first to deploy doctors in the workplace - it was the employers themselves.
One to note is Rosen Hotels, based in Orlando. The program that we all know about - and the destination we all hope to visit - is Walt Disney World, and if you ever get a chance to meet with their on-site health program team, you will be impressed. However, few of us outside the hotel industry know that the other major hospitality giant in Orlando is Rosen, and we might actually be staying at one of their properties as we enjoy the local theme parks. Rosen has had on-site care for over a decade, and their model is one to emulate. First, they do it themselves. Second, they do it for employees and their beneficiaries. Third, they manage all aspects of care. Remember, we keep saying it is a program and not just a clinic. One visit to the Rosen program will punctuate that thought.
More to come as we move into the fall. More on the Web site coming up, including a new vendor-profiling system, a taxonomy approach to categorizing on-site employer-managed programs and an evaluation of the newest approaches in primary care and program extenders (think connectivity, robotics, group care, and social networking).
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For more on-site clinic news, visit our Web site at www.onsiteclinics.org . |
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ON-SITE CLINIC NEWSLETTER