Published: Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Corporations turn to in-house clinics
-
Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times
At Qualcomm Inc.'s in-house health clinic in San Diego, physical therapist Chaitali Ahya helps an employee patient with post-operative knee rehabilitation. Take Care Health Systems runs the clinic that provides free treatment and prescription drugs to all Qualcomm employees.
LOS ANGELES -- Major employers across the country, eager to curb fast-rising health care costs, are opening their own state-of-the-art health centers where doctors and nurses provide medical care to workers often just steps from their desks.
The cost-cutting strategy has been embraced by dozens of companies -- typically large employers that are self-insured and pay their own medical claims, including Walt Disney Co., Qualcomm Inc. and American Express Co.
Many of the health centers are full-service medical offices equipped with exam rooms, X-ray machines and pharmacies. Some provide on-site appointments with dentists, dermatologists, psychiatrists and other specialists who treat life-threatening illnesses.
Executives say providing in-house medical care keeps workers healthy and productive. But the clinics also help the bottom line by reducing absenteeism and slashing employers' medical bills for outside doctors and emergency rooms.
"Employers are seeing the health centers as a way to get more for their money," said Helen Darling, president of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit National Business Group on Health.
Skeptics wonder about the quality of the care and worry that workers may be surrendering their medical privacy to employers. Others question the idea that corporate medicine is a big money saver.
In a recent study, the nonprofit Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C., found that health centers hold promise but are unlikely to be cost-cutting game changers, partly because it's difficult to persuade employees to change unhealthful habits that can lead to expensive medical care.
"There may be some employers with high turnover where a clinic might not end up saving anything," said Ha Tu, the study's lead author.
Even so, health care economists say the strategy makes sense for growing numbers of companies that must keep a vigilant eye on their bottom lines.
"It is in their self-interest to have a healthy workforce," said Gerald F. Kominski, associate director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California-Los Angeles. "There's a direct economic benefit."
And that, health care analysts say, explains why the corporate option is steadily mounting.
Nationally, 15 percent of companies with 500 or more employees had health centers last year, up from 11 percent the year before, according to an employer survey by benefits consulting firm Mercer. Companies with 20,000 or more employees were even more likely to have clinics.
Among the biggest advocates is American Express. Its "wellness centers" in Phoenix, New York and three other cities offer free or low-cost blood tests, physicals, allergy shots, prescriptions and other services to employees and family members. Some sites also provide dental exams, boxing classes, yoga and massage therapy.
"The investment we are making is more than going to pay off in improved health and improved productivity on the job," said David Kasiarz, who oversees global compensation and benefits for the company. "We have begun to bend the trend of bad health."
The cost-cutting strategy has been embraced by dozens of companies -- typically large employers that are self-insured and pay their own medical claims, including Walt Disney Co., Qualcomm Inc. and American Express Co.
Many of the health centers are full-service medical offices equipped with exam rooms, X-ray machines and pharmacies. Some provide on-site appointments with dentists, dermatologists, psychiatrists and other specialists who treat life-threatening illnesses.
Executives say providing in-house medical care keeps workers healthy and productive. But the clinics also help the bottom line by reducing absenteeism and slashing employers' medical bills for outside doctors and emergency rooms.
"Employers are seeing the health centers as a way to get more for their money," said Helen Darling, president of the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit National Business Group on Health.
Skeptics wonder about the quality of the care and worry that workers may be surrendering their medical privacy to employers. Others question the idea that corporate medicine is a big money saver.
In a recent study, the nonprofit Center for Studying Health System Change in Washington, D.C., found that health centers hold promise but are unlikely to be cost-cutting game changers, partly because it's difficult to persuade employees to change unhealthful habits that can lead to expensive medical care.
"There may be some employers with high turnover where a clinic might not end up saving anything," said Ha Tu, the study's lead author.
Even so, health care economists say the strategy makes sense for growing numbers of companies that must keep a vigilant eye on their bottom lines.
"It is in their self-interest to have a healthy workforce," said Gerald F. Kominski, associate director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the University of California-Los Angeles. "There's a direct economic benefit."
And that, health care analysts say, explains why the corporate option is steadily mounting.
Nationally, 15 percent of companies with 500 or more employees had health centers last year, up from 11 percent the year before, according to an employer survey by benefits consulting firm Mercer. Companies with 20,000 or more employees were even more likely to have clinics.
Among the biggest advocates is American Express. Its "wellness centers" in Phoenix, New York and three other cities offer free or low-cost blood tests, physicals, allergy shots, prescriptions and other services to employees and family members. Some sites also provide dental exams, boxing classes, yoga and massage therapy.
"The investment we are making is more than going to pay off in improved health and improved productivity on the job," said David Kasiarz, who oversees global compensation and benefits for the company. "We have begun to bend the trend of bad health."
Comments
(
