Study shows the cost savings on employer worksite clinics

Study shows the cost savings on employer worksite clinics October 9, 2017

On-site and near-site clinics have been shown to be beneficial to both employees and employers. Employees have convenient access to medical care that ranges from treatment of workplace injuries to immunizations to full primary care, sometimes for their dependents as well. Employers realize reduced absenteeism, improved productivity, and healthier employees. Worksite clinics also result in cost savings for employers, in financial terms.

A prime example of the cost savings is the more than $700,000 in healthcare savings realized by the Commonwealth of Kentucky, as reported in 2015. State employees who accessed care through four on-site clinics provided in the capital of Frankfort cost their employer $38.53 per visit, as compared to $85 per visit to other primary care physicians.

A separate study published in The American Journal of Managed Care in 2015 found that the world’s largest privately held software company, SAS, realized cost savings when employees used their on-site healthcare center (HCC) consistently rather than casually. The study also found that companies such as SAS, Mead Corporation, and Southwire “experienced cost savings … when providing on-site healthcare to employees in their larger locations.”

The study included Syngenta, a biotechnology company. Syngenta’s “worksite clinic was found to provide its employee healthcare services 66% less expensively than it would have cost to provide similar healthcare services off-site.” Overall, the study found that, among the companies analyzed, “primary care costs for patients seeking care from a worksite medical home were 42% lower than for patients seeking care from community providers.”

Other cost savings resulting from employer worksite clinics include reductions in the amount of time employees spend going to see a physician. With on-site healthcare services, many employees can easily and efficiently seek out care without losing a significant amount of time on the job. A reduction in lost work hours translates into cost savings as well. When the worksite clinics offer immunizations and preventative services, absenteeism is also reduced and the employer’s cost savings is increased.