In-house dispensing is one ancillary service your practice should consider if it hasn’t already. Consider the value you will add to countless patients as they come through your doors. They won’t have to drive across town to get their prescriptions filled and that means they are much more likely to actually have them filled, use them and recover from the illness that brought them to your office to begin with.
A great way to improve patient care and add additional revenue? Definitely. And more medical practices are turning to in-house dispensing to achieve both goals. But the interesting trend is that it’s not only medical practices that are moving to in-house dispensing.
Who else is moving to in-house or in-office dispensing? Non-medical worksites. And they aren’t just adopting in-house dispensing; they are adopting the clinic and pharmacy together.
Why Others are Considering In-Office Clinics and Dispensing Solutions
Employers are embracing the power of the onsite clinic model to impact healthcare costs and enhance the employee experience. Click to read more about worksite clinics. 9 Reasons to Consider a Worksite Clinic
Here are four benefits that more and more employees are enjoying as a result of in-office dispensaries.
- Faster access to care – The onsite/near-site clinic solution provides great access for employees.
- More convenience – The employee is able to receive direct care, lab work and medications at or near their place of employment. This creates efficiencies for the employer and the convenience builds goodwill with the employee.
- Wellness solutions – Most employee health center solutions incorporate a wellness element to take a broader view of the employee’s overall health. It is not just about “fixing” them when they are ill; this holistic approach looks at overall outcomes based on lifestyle risks.
- More time with the practitioner – Employer-sponsored clinics remove the revenue-per-visit incentive under which a traditional practice or urgent care operates. This allows the practitioner to focus on the patient with significantly less time pressure.
If your organization employs 300-500 individuals, in-office dispensaries are a great way to boost productivity and even reduce healthcare costs. One study done as early as 2006 studied cost from lost productivity and the off-site costs of healthcare in comparison with the operational costs of running an on-site clinic and found that an on-site clinic provided employee healthcare services to be 2 to 3 times more cost-effective than off-site clinics. Read more from Cost Effectiveness Analysis of Worksite Clinic (Chenoweth and Garrett, 2006).
Speaking with a Northwind Pharmaceutical representative about how we can make an in-house clinic or in-office dispensary a reality for your workplace is worth the conversation. Contact us to get the conversation going.
