The (Herman Miller) Doctor is In
In November, Herman Miller began offering basic medical services on site to its employees with a primary goal of reducing health care costs, but also to make it more convenient for people to get the appropriate care they may need.
“We know from our health insurance claims that a lot of people use urgent care or emergency room services for things that are not really emergencies simply because they don’t have a family doctor or anywhere to go for basic care,” says Mike Koppenol, Senior Manager, Employee Benefit Programs. “We thought if we offered some limited services at our three on-site clinics (previously used for work-related cases only) we could save money and also provide a better place to treat people for minor things such as sore throats, coughs, fevers, sprains, stitches, eye or ear injuries, that sort of thing.”
Using ER services for non-urgent care is not only very expensive—on average $450 versus $90 for a doctor’s office visit—it also ties up valuable resources that others may need.
Koppenol says the idea with the clinics, which are staffed by a physician, a physician’s assistant, and a nurse practitioner, isn’t to replace a primary care doctor, but to serve as more of a fill-in. “Employees need primary care physicians for annual physicals and for preventive care, and also so they have a medical ‘home’ to go to if something goes wrong. Our clinics can take care of the bumps and bruises that may come up in the meantime.”
Other large companies, from Toyota to Pepsi to Disney, are finding that on-site clinics are a great way to go; some studies show employers can save as much as 25 percent in employee health care fees in the first year alone, not to mention the savings in productivity when an employee doesn’t have to take 2-3 hours off for a doctor’s appointment.
I’ve heard lots of good stuff about this type of program. One positive thing that could come out of this is that employees who have symptoms of contagious diseases (like strep throat) can be diagnosed early on and sent home. We all know people who tend to tough it out for days on end hoping symptoms will go away. If they can be encouraged to just visit an on-site clinic to get a prescription and a doctor’s note to give their boss, this could cut down on how many other employees get sick.
Daisy McCarty
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