The most obvious hesitation prior to implementing an onsite clinic, is the cost. Onsite clinics are workplace wellness centers staffed with health professionals and serve as a one-stop for all acute, chronic, or preventive care needs.
Contrary to popular belief, onsite clinics don’t have to be an expensive investment. For example, implementation may not always require an entirely new space to be built out. A worksite clinic can serve in a room as small as 100 square feet by 100 square feet. When considering the overall costs of implementing an onsite clinic, consider how much will simultaneously be saved.
Before implementing a clinic, do your research on the big picture ROI. At TargetCare, we typically work with mid-size companies and see savings of $3.23 for every $1 spent. For other large providers of onsite healthcare, the typical ROI is still around $3 for every $1 spent.
Reporting on onsite clinic savings will assess average costs associated with acute and chronic care conditions. Studies show that specific dollar amounts are attributable to different health risks; and when eliminated, financial savings result. Obesity, for example, costs $3,841 per occurrence in an employee. Uncontrolled diabetes costs $16,082 per occurrence and pre-diabetes costs $8,041 per occurrence.
After implementing an onsite clinic, our client saved $376,557 in chronic disease risk reduction alone. How? Our programs successfully identified 84 occurrences of preventable chronic diseases among their population, saving an average of $4,483 per employee across 84 employees. Onsite clinics also serve acute care, lifestyle management, and clinical coaching needs. When calculating the savings for these services, consider what a standard primary care provider expense would be versus an onsite clinic. This employer saw significant savings in costs related to office visit costs and lab fees, by using the onsite clinic versus an offsite doctors office or hospital.
Onsite clinics can also show savings in lost work times, by positioning the time spent traveling to an offsite appointment versus time saved visiting an onsite clinic. In addition, there are known productivity losses due to absenteeism associated with specific chronic conditions. When these conditions are managed or eliminated, absenteeism returns to expected standards. Similarly, there are known productivity losses due to presenteeism that are associated with chronic conditions as well. Presenteeism is the loss in personal productivity associated with an employee who is at work, but unable to work to their full capacity due to an underlying condition. These employees may be "slow-moving" on the job, or may take more than normal breaks from their work.
Investing in an onsite clinic is an expense worth paying. The monetary spending of bringing healthcare to the worksite is easily balanced by creating a better company culture, healthier employees, and saving money through health-related expenses.
