Onsite clinics offer an opportunity for employers to bring healthcare directly to employees at the workplace. Clinics are the answer for a number of concerns including high healthcare costs, poor employee health, lack of benefits, high absenteeism, high turnover rates, and more. It’s always important to address common myths that may be holding you back from considering clinics as a potential solution. When deciding whether your organization could benefit from an onsite clinic, here are some pros and cons to think about. 

Pros of Onsite Clinics

Access to Quality Care

The most obvious benefit of an onsite clinic is that it brings healthcare directly to the workplace. Companies show their employees that their health is top of mind, while employees have access to free healthcare services for both acute and chronic care management. Companies also minimize absenteeism by eliminating travel time to doctors appointments and the number of sick days. These costs linked to missed work for health-related issues can total about $1,685 per employee per year. 

Improvements in Health

A benefit of onsite clinics is how they contribute to improvements in employee health. Onsite clinics provide one-on-one care for each employee, giving them the opportunity to assess their current health, set goals, and work towards those with the help of a provider. Whether an employee has a sore throat or needs help lowering their blood pressure, it’s one stop. 

Big Savings

Onsite clinics save companies money. Catching preventative chronic diseases saves companies tens of thousands of dollars per employee. Clinics decrease urgent care visits, emergency room visits, and copays because employees can simply walk down the hall to be treated. They minimize absenteeism, sick days and lost productivity costs. Clinics improve employee retention, saving on new-hire costs, because employers can position them as a benefit offering. 

Cons of Onsite Clinics

Investment 

The largest, most present downfall of onsite clinics is the investment. Building and implementing an onsite clinic can seem like a big cost, especially for smaller companies, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. An onsite clinic can be built in a 100 x 100 square foot pre-existing space at your workplace. The costs of supplies and staff can be decreased if your clinic does not operate at full-time hours. When evaluating the cost of implementing an onsite clinic, simultaneously consider the costs you will be saving in the following years. 

Concerns of Third Party Vendor 

Another deemed weakness of an onsite clinic is the partnership with a third party vendor. Employees might already be hesitant to see an onsite care provider, and could additionally worry about their health information ending up lost or in the wrong hands. In reality, vendors who use third parties to handle employee information ensure tighter security regarding the data. This helps companies who don’t have the proper protections in place to avoid handling Personal Health Information and avoid any violations of HIPAA.

Opportunities

Establishing an onsite clinic with TargetCare opens the door to big savings and benefits for your employees. Onsite clinics with integrated programs such as health coaching, behavioral health, and biometric screenings, can transform the internal culture of the workplace while changing employees' lives.