Onsite clinics

Driving forces / Employers and retail clinics / Onsite clinics / Reports, white papers, studies, presentations / Retail clinics / Telehealth and clinics — No Comments
10
Aug 10

MinuteClinic Visits Up + Conventional Medical Visits Down <> Trend

Sorry, Johnson/Rockoff/Masters, California Healthcare Foundation, Mark Perry, et al – you are NOT on to any particular thing here, however much you wish it so.

MinuteClinic visits up + conventional visits down DOES equal “it’s the economy, stupid” (and no, you bloggers/commenters/industry observers aren’t stupid, either).

We’ll know we have systemic change worth talking about when data on the use of “physician extender services” (gee whiz, is the vocabulary of health care innovation ever lame) shows people prefer the combination of ease, convenience, and quality they offer to care they have obtained from conventional clinicians in conventional settings, in significant numbers.

The data doesn’t show that yet.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jason Hwang, he of The Innovator’s Prescription (along with Clay Christensen & Dr. Jerome Grossman) points to the way Minnesota-based integrated health system HealthPartners is refashioning its delivery of primary care services through the conscious application of wellness programs, worksite clinics, e-visits, and retail clinics.

Clinic openings and closings / Driving forces / Employers and retail clinics / MinuteClinic / Onsite clinics / Opinion/commentary/analysis / Retail clinics — Comments Off
26
Apr 10

Leading Retail Clinic Operators and Employers: What Are They Up To?

We applaud Memphis Business Group on Health for posting a comment & link to Workforce Magazine’s February article on clinics (Work-Site Clinics Gaining Favor Over Retail Clinics, 4/25/10). However, we’re concerned that their blog’s editor may have misconstrued the clinics’ driving impulse.

Worksite Clinics Gain Favor As Retail Sites Lag, written by the invariably astute Jeremy Smerd, is good stuff, laying out a detailed picture of industry trends, and the rising importance in industry leaders’ business models of services specifically tailored to the needs of employers We liked it a lot, & posted our own thoughts on the piece back in March.

Memphis Business Group finds clinics are “focused on cutting employee and employer costs”. We’d urge – strongly urge – their readers to consider that clinics are focused on providing basic services that help keep people healthy, help to maintain their level of functioning health. Cost management can be a happy result of that focus.

We feel there’s a difference in that distinction, so let’s restate it one more time, with feeling. The impetus, the organizing principle, is “help people with routine non-emergency health services”, not “cut costs, then see if we can keep people healthy”. The clinics – and the firms that have intentionally incorporated them in their health strategies – are investing in their populations’ health. It seems unlikely to us that most of them have first trimmed their budget, then chosen what health services to retain.

Consider yourself which starting point is likelier to produce long-term sustainable results….

Driving forces / Health care practitioners / Onsite clinics / Physicians' perspective / Public policy / Reports, white papers, studies, presentations / Retail clinics / Strategic initiatives / Tactical innovation — Comments Off
9
Mar 10

Macy’s Floats Recommendations for “Primary Care Expansion”

The newly released primary care advancement recommendations from the Josiah H Macy Foundation include a number of recommendations for further investment and action. While the 49 participants and the event leaders produced numerous recommendations concerning primary care organization, financing, education, and leadership worthy of closer inspection, we have quoted our favorites below:

  • ….state and national legal, regulatory, and reimbursement policies should be changed to remove barriers that make it difficult for nurse practitioners and physician assistants to serve as primary care providers and leaders of patient-centered medical homes or other models of primary care delivery. [Conclusion I, Recommendation 2]

  • ….Invest in primary care health information technologies that support data sharing, quality improvement, patient engagement, and clinical care, with the aim of continuously improving the health and productivity of individuals and populations. [Conclusion I, Recommendation 4]

  • ….implement all-payor payment reforms that more appropriately recognize the value contributed by primary care through such mechanisms as global payments linked to patient complexity and accountability for the provision of healthcare services, including preventive services, care coordination across settings, chronic disease management, and 24/7 accessibility. [Conclusion I, Recommendation 5]

Can anyone help me square these proposals with AAFP’s turnabout with respect to its qualified support for retail clinics?

Tip of the cap to Healthleaders Media‘s Janice Simmons for her story on the release of the JHMacy Foundation report.

Driving forces / Onsite clinics / Retail clinics / Take Care Health — Comments Off
8
Mar 10

Onsite/Retail Intersection (Not?)

Workforce Management‘s Jeremy Smerd on employers’ emerging approaches to integration of clinics – onsite and/or retail – to their health strategies. Good stuff:

Work-Site Clinics Gain Favor as Retail Sites Lag (February 2010; free registration required)

The wide presence of Take Care’s clinics among employers in New York shows how Walgreens has aggressively tapped into the growing market for work-site medical clinics as part of its effort to rebrand itself as a health and wellness company. Analysts say the move makes sense….

Retail clinics and work-site medical clinics are thought to be complementary, offering different services for different populations….

But growth in retail clinics has stagnated….

Walgreens, meanwhile, has been quick to focus on work-site clinics. In 2007, Walgreens bought Take Care Health Systems, then a retail-based clinic, and the next year acquired two of the largest work-site clinic companies in the country, CHD Meridian Healthcare and Whole Health Management….

For now, Take Care remains the largest company in the fast-growing market for work-site medical clinics. The percentage of employers providing on-site health clinics increased tenfold from 1 percent in 2008 to 10 percent in 2009….

Count us among those who think retail and worksite clinics are complementary – and see the end of this post for at least one management team that also appears to do so.

We’ve commented elsewhere on Brian Klepper‘s February 2010 onsite clinics assessment checklist for Workforce Management, but wanted to include references to both under this topic title (Brian is quoted in the previously cited Workforce Management article). Because we’re here for you, dear reader.

Finally, we’re including this brief 3/1/10 Illinois Daily Herald report on Walgreens recent restructuring announcement (free registration may be required). The restructuring moves management of the pharmacy-benefits services business under Take Care Health founder Hal F. Rosenbluth, “along with workplace and retail clinics”. We’re not yet sure how, but we feel this may be relevant to the onsite/retail clinics strategy dynamic.

EDIT 3/8/10: o-kaaaayyyy, that last story is getting some real attention – here’s a link to Drug Store News’ account, with commentary: Integrating Health Solutions for Payers, Walgreens Unifies Pharmacy, Wellness, Led by Crawford (free registration may be required)

….At its essence, the restructuring is an attempt by Walgreens to integrate and bring to bear all of its more than 8,000 “points of care,” on behalf of employers, government and managed care….The result, according to [Walgreens CEO Greg] Wasson, will be “a unified offering to payers in the healthcare marketplace,” as well as “increased efficiencies across Walgreens’ pharmacy, health and wellness operations.