Vera Whole Health Blog

Stop Benefit Cost Inflation Insanity: Put a Dedicated Clinic at the Center of Your Strategy

Written by Vera Whole Health | Sep 11, 2019 3:00:00 PM

Healthcare is expensive, for everyone. Dealing with the fee-for-service model, which emphasizes productivity instead of prevention, only worsens the problem.

Primary care providers don’t have time to fully engage with their patients, reacting instead to symptoms and doling out specialist referrals rather than in-depth care to improve whole patient health.

Patients then wait even longer for the treatment they really need and spend more time away from the office at yet more appointments. This cycle only heightens dissatisfaction, while raising costs and unmanaged claims.

The system needs to change. To provide better healthcare and drive down costs, many leaders have opted to put dedicated clinics at the center of their strategies. Here are a few ways that doing so can stop benefit cost inflation.

Download Now: Advanced Primary Care: The Front Line Of A Health Revolution

1) Reducing Healthcare Spend

Delivering healthcare through a clinic (or care center, as we call them at Vera) reduces healthcare costs. Improving health at both individual and population scales means fewer claims, fewer expensive trips to the emergency room, fewer hospital stays, and fewer staff coverages.

2) Uncomplicating Health for Your Workforce

Dedicated care centers provide a convenient, accessible hub in a network of care that allows individuals to get the help they need, when they need it, at little to no cost.

Making an appointment is easy and wait times are short to nonexistent. They can get in and out for care, then go back to the workday. Online and telehealth services are also available, so they can still get answers for their health concerns or even schedule a visit outside of clinical hours.

Read Next: How To Expand Employee Benefits While Keeping Costs Under Control

3) Building a Culture of Health in the Workplace

A dedicated clinic makes it easier for patients to not only access the healthcare they need, but to get the support necessary to make changes in their lifestyle for better health over their lifetimes.

Vera Whole Health coaches embedded with the primary care team provide guidance through every step of behavior change to help patients gain control of their own physical, psycho-social, and emotional well-being.

4) Increasing Productivity

A care center minimizes the amount of time patients spend away from their jobs, as well as the hours spent traveling and waiting. It also helps to minimize absenteeism by improving population health throughout the population.

5) Attracting and Retaining Top Talent

Standing out in a competitive industry can be difficult and potential candidates turn a keen eye to the benefits offered by those hoping to recruit them.

A healthcare model that focuses on empathetic listening, engagement, and strong provider-patient relationships — all available through a dedicated clinic — is a great way to demonstrate a forward-thinking and conscientious approach to caring for your workforce.

Clinics don’t just improve population health management, but they reduce costs and boost satisfaction as well. Organizations thrive when their members are healthier and happier. Dedicated clinics are validated and effective healthcare solutions that provide incredible returns long into the future.

Are you ready to join the health revolution? Download our FREE eBook to learn about advanced primary care and be at the forefront of change with us.