It's easy to understand that a health clinic down the hall from your desk at work would make it more convenient for you to visit with your healthcare provider. However, one question for many is do you get the same quality of care from an onsite clinic? The answer is absolutely, and here are some of the reasons why.
Staffing
Onsite health clinics are staffed by highly skilled and qualified medical professionals, the same ones you would see if you went to an outside medical clinic. Therefore, the quality of care isn't sacrificed in any way; it's just closer to you, allowing for much easier access.
Ease of Access - Increased Prevention and Early Detection
According to the wellness journal A Plus, 9 out of 10 millennials avoid going to the doctor. "Generally, I'll avoid going [to the doctor] because it's annoying to schedule appointments around work," Christine Hayes, a 24-year-old online content editor at C-4 Analytics told A Plus. She goes on to explain that her work schedule is too busy to take a sick day just to go in, especially if there is a chance nothing is really wrong.
Not only do onsite clinics provide quality healthcare, but with an onsite clinic, patients/employees are able to visit their providers more frequently. And since they are just down the hall, they don't have to time off of work. More frequent medical visits typically equate to preventative healthcare that lead to less need for hospital visits or surgeries for conditions that go undiagnosed or untreated.
An onsite clinic may also make it easier for employees to access regular prescriptions, making them less likely to run out or lapse. Lapses in certain medications can have major side effects and health repercussions causing employees to miss more time from work than going in would have taken.
When a company has medical professionals as near as a few steps down the hallway, the overall interest in and awareness of health-related issues increases amongst the general employee population. The clinic is able to do marketing campaigns to increase awareness around things like heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, or other illnesses that may affect your employees. They are also able to run specific wellness programs and initiatives in-house that can raise the overall health and well-being of your staff.
One of the main reasons many employees resist going to the doctor is they are worried about how much it is going to cost them. There are the direct out-of-pocket costs as well as the cost of using sick leave or unpaid leave to go to the doctor. They tend to put it off for so long that they end up needing to go into the Emergency Room or an Urgent Care facility when things get really bad. Those facilities cost more up front, have longer wait times, and although they may have skilled healthcare professionals, they have no background information on you or your health. An on-site clinic offering quality healthcare will be familiar with you as a patient, will have your health records on-hand, and ultimately will save you and your company money both on premiums and out-of-pocket payments.
As you can see, the real truth in the matter is that the convenience of onsite health clinics in the workplace actually adds to the quality and level of care that you will receive, they aren't mutually exclusive. If you'd like to learn more about the long and short term benefits of on-site clinics, keep reading here or download our Benefits to an Onsite Clinic ebook below.