Competition trend: On-site health clinics

NJ’s Asbury Park Press profiles Perdue Farms’ on-site health clinics, which provide primary care as well as lab work, ob-gyn and prenatal care to the company’s workers.

An estimated 23 percent of large employers, with at least 1,000 employees, have on-site health clinics according to a 2006-2007 survey by the human resource consulting firm Watson Wyatt Worldwide. Another 6 percent of these large employers plan to add clinics next year.

While employees are not required to get their health care only through the clinic, they are offered incentives such as lower co-pays and they are able to schedule appointments on paid company time. According to Perdue, the model has helped the company cut its health-care cost by 3 percent over the last year.

About 80 percent of the workers at its plants use on-site clinics. This is yet another reason why doctors in private practice should be concentrating on making patient convenience a priority.

Company Doctors [Via Asbury Park Press]

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