As they seek to lower costs and improve employee wellness, quality of care and use, a significant number of employers have chosen to create onsite medical centers.
These facilities have the obvious advantage of convenience for employees and may help to knit together employer wellness programs, employee benefits, educational efforts and other aspects of health. Nearly two-thirds of companies with such centers indicated they see improved productivity as a result of their workers no longer requiring time offsite for medical appointments as the leading benefit they provide, according to a survey by Towers Watson.
After that, cost reduction was cited as an important reason by the next-largest group, with more than half giving it as their main motivation. Nearly as many said they maintained centers to integrate health productivity efforts, and more than one-third said that improved access to care is part of their rationale. In contrast, relatively few said that concierge services and reductions in pharmacy costs were a major reason.
Most of those surveyed indicated they were not certain how strong a return on investment their company derived from supporting an onsite center. About 9 percent indicated ROI was negative, while almost 40 percent said it was positive.
