Employer-paid health insurance has long been a major selling point for attracting new talent into workplaces, with large businesses spending over $1.2 trillion a year to fund their employees’ healthcare benefits. But such heavy expenditures and ever-increasing health plan costs are a financial strain on corporations.
In an effort to keep employees healthy and reduce healthcare claims, many employers are establishing workplace clinics to address the healthcare needs of their employees. However, the cost of these workplace clinics with dedicated medical providers is significant and the return on investment needs to be monitored closely.
InHouse Physicians, a prominent health and wellness solution provider, offers a far more efficient and cost-effective alternative; teleclinics.
InHouse Physicians’ teleclinics, named Asterias Health, are conveniently located within corporate building spaces, just like any conventional workplace clinic. However, instead of onsite physicians and mid-level providers, Asterias Health clinics are manned by nurses and medical assistants equipped with advanced telemedicine equipment connected to diagnostics devices, ranging from stethoscopes and otoscopes to electrocardiograms (ECG). When an employee visits the clinic with a medical concern, the nurse or MA records vitals, and in the presence of a remote physician, conducts a physical exam with images of the ear, eyes, nose, throat, and skin as well as hi definition audio of lungs and heart sounds transmitted to the physician in real-time. The transducer-integrated diagnostics devices can share comprehensive physical exam information with both primary care and a national network of specialty physicians creating a much more meaningful patient encounter as compared to the standard 2-way video only. Physicians use the data to make a remote, yet precise, diagnosis and decide the next course of treatment for the patient.
InHouse Physicians’ teleclinics help employers reduce costs and increase ROI for an on-site clinic boosting employee satisfaction with convenient, professional care right in the workplace.
InHouse also provides a dedicated patient portal for employees to set reminders for upcoming appointments and lab tests, and to view results. Through the portal, employees can securely communicate with their physicians via email, complying with HIPAA and best-in-class data security. On the employers’ end, the platform offers population health management tools for predictive modeling based on claims and clinical data. High-risk patients, typically responsible for 80 percent of the health care dollar, can be identified, and efforts can be made to reduce their costs. The platform also aggregates monthly reports regarding the utilization of the various healthcare services in the Asterias Health clinics, including insights on the quality of care. These insights also help employers to determine what specific healthcare and wellness services are most needed for their member population.
“Our teleclinics are enabling organizations across the U.S. to enhance employee healthcare and cut down the expenditure of workplace clinics by almost 60 percent, owing to which even smaller sites and mid-sized companies are now able to provide workplace healthcare benefits to their employees,” says Dr. Jonathan Spero, founder, president, and CEO of InHouse Physicians.
Even the implementation of the teleclinics is quite simple and straightforward, taking less than three months. After the employer chooses a suitable subscription model, depending on the number of insured employees, the InHouse Physicians’ team customizes a dedicated space at the employer’s office and outfits it with its advanced telemedicine equipment and secure broadband communication infrastructure. The EHR information of the insured employees is securely backed up on the cloud and is made accessible to the physician partnership network when needed so that physicians can provide continuity of care.
This innovative employee healthcare approach has already garnered acclaim from business organizations worldwide. To further augment its teleclinics, InHouse Physicians is partnering with AI and automation experts to collect data on patient symptoms and physical exam findings to increase the accuracy and automate the diagnosis of illnesses which will further lower the costs for employers and improve the health of employees. The company is indeed an epitome of foresighted employee wellness innovation as it carves a path for more sustainable, healthier, and motivated workforces in the corporate world.