Employer Survey Finds Worksite Health Centers Remain a Key Well-Being Strategy Despite Disruption Caused by COVID-19
26 Ottobre 2021 - 3:00PM
Business Wire
Employer-sponsored health centers (both in-person at the
worksite and virtual) continue to be a key health and benefits
strategy despite the pandemic forcing employees to stay home and
defer in-person care. According to Mercer’s 2021 Worksite Health
Center Report, conducted in collaboration with the National
Association of Worksite Health Centers (NAWHC), a non-profit trade
association for employers who sponsor worksite health centers,
nearly one-third (31%) of respondents (US organizations with at
least 5,000 employees) offer primary care health centers, up from
20% in 2010. The pandemic has not caused health center sponsors to
retrench this popular benefit to any significant degree; only 1% of
respondents say they will decrease the number of health center
locations as a result of the pandemic.
Most health centers surveyed now provide telehealth services by
clinic staff (78%), up from just 21% in 2018. Notably, better
access to care is the highest rated objective; nearly all
respondents (98%) rated it as an important objective. And, as the
range of services offered at health centers continues to expand,
more employers are allowing members to select their health center
as their primary care provider -- 71 % of respondents compared to
49% in 2015.
“When a company prioritizes taking care of its employees,
everything else falls into place,” said David Keyt, Worksite Health
Consulting Group Leader. “Employers can show support by offering a
holistic approach to well-being and a gold standard for supporting
employee health is access to onsite or near-site health centers.
These findings show that rather than cutting back on this popular
benefit during the pandemic, employers are instead embracing it as
the foundation of their health, safety, and well-being
strategy.”
Some sponsors used their health center to assist in their
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many centers offered diagnostic
testing (66%) and some (25%) offered antibody testing; 39%
administered daily COVID screening questionnaires and 18% conducted
contact tracing. Over two-fifths (42%) administered COVID-19
vaccines. These numbers are expected to increase because of Biden’s
latest COVID-19 action plan that states all employers with 100 or
more employees must require onsite workers to be vaccinated or
undergo at least weekly COVID-19 testing.
Key considerations for employers that provide health centers or
plan to provide health centers in the future include:
- Leverage the telehealth and digital channels that a health
center offers. Models are no longer restricted by the four walls of
the physical health center.
- Health center primary care models should be fully integrated
with the community healthcare ecosystem.
- Employers should consider offering ancillary services because
they offer a cost-neutral path to core primary care engagement,
which drives return on investment.
“A worksite health center, whether it’s onsite, near-site,
shared, mobile or virtual, can be the hub of all of an employer’s
benefit and wellness programs, increasing engagement and
integrating care to more fully support the health of employees and
their family members,” said Larry Boress, executive director of
NAWHC. “Access to convenient and quality care is a critical
strategy to improve health and productivity for organizations given
the workforce disruptions over the last 18 months and growing
challenges to hire and retain workers.”
About the Survey of Worksite Health Centers With the help
of the NAWHC, Mercer worked with clinic management companies to
distribute the survey to employers for whom they provide services
and recruited additional clinic sponsors as well. The survey was
fielded from March-April 2021 and 142 employers with clinics
provided information. The full report is available here.
About National Association of Worksite Centers The
National Association of Worksite Health Centers (NAWHC) is a
501(c)(3) non-profit organization for employers, unions, vendors,
consultants, health providers and others interested in developing
and expanding the capabilities of onsite, near-site, mobile and
virtual health centers, pharmacies and wellness centers. NAWHC
serves as a clearinghouse of information on worksite health centers
and the marketplace, providing educational programs, resources,
benchmarking surveys, and employer case studies. For more
information, visit nawhc.org.
About Mercer Mercer believes in building brighter futures
by redefining the world of work, reshaping retirement and
investment outcomes, and unlocking real health and well-being.
Mercer’s approximately 25,000 employees are based in 43 countries
and the firm operates in 130 countries. Mercer is a business of
Marsh McLennan (NYSE: MMC), the world’s leading professional
services firm in the areas of risk, strategy and people, with
81,000 colleagues and annual revenue of over $19 billion. Through
its market-leading businesses including Marsh, Guy Carpenter and
Oliver Wyman, Marsh McLennan helps clients navigate an increasingly
dynamic and complex environment. For more information, visit
mercer.com. Follow Mercer on LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Micaela McPadden 201-694-9719
Micaela.mcpadden@mercer.com
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