(In)House Call

An ounce of knowledge has grown into a pound of cure at the Assemblies of God headquarters.

The organization restructured a bookstore into a new in-house clinic that opened Feb. 10 for employees and their immediate family members. The move by one of Springfield’s largest employers was spurred by a change in network, after AG transitioned to Mercy from CoxHealth at the start of the year.

AG General Treasurer Doug Clay said the clinic is a joint venture with Mercy and will allow AG to build revenue from its operations.

“Structurally, the building was up and it was an internal build-out,” he said, noting the conversion cost a couple hundred thousand dollars. “Part of the transition was Mercy’s ability to help us.”

AG Director of Public Relations Mark Forrester said after building renovations are recouped, the church plans to continue investing in wellness initiatives and strategies.

Clay said Mercy handles staffing and the costs of sustaining the clinic at AG’s headquarters, 1445 Boonville Ave. Jan Meese, AG employee benefits manager, said the clinic is run by nurse practitioners Elizabeth Williams and Esther Myers, with a five-member staff, who treat health conditions from seasonal allergies, influenza and sore throats to sprains and sports physicals.

AG is among a handful of Springfield-area businesses taking health care in-house in recent years. Ozarks Technical Community College, Drury University and City Utilities all have opened shop in an attempt to save on the bottom line while improving employee wellness.

Health savings plan
AG officials say the clinic will help control health care costs and provide convenience for on-site employees, but any savings has yet to be determined. Clay declined to disclose any projected savings for AG. He noted the clinic also will reduce time spent going to the doctor and leaving the office, meaning employees can utilize their time better in the office.

“The cost of the clinic is 50 percent less [for the patient] than if you go to another clinic,” he said. “The long-term cost will be less claims and less urgent care visits.”

Clay said AG also plans to have a disease management and wellness strategy, including fitness classes.

As of now, all 850 employees at AG’s national headquarters and their families are eligible to use the clinic, but Clay said AG hopes to expand to some of the 267 AG-affiliated churches within 100 miles of Springfield and divisions such as AG Financial Solutions in Chesterfield Village.

“We might expand to one of our Bible schools or financial solutions,” he said. “After our affiliates, we will monitor capacity and perhaps open up to members of Assemblies of God churches, employees and families.”

Growing trend
With the recent popularity of in-house clinics, Employee Benefit Design LLC partner Dan Ruggeri said it’s the next big step in helping to control health care costs.

“It’ll provide a lower cost of access of care,” he said, noting AG is one of two large clients to recently start its own clinic, but declined to name the other. “Within a group, they have challenges in certain disease categories, and the clinic can set up programs to help monitor and control those disease states.”

Ruggeri said EBD does not lose AG as a client, but rather will administer a new plan.

“Our job is to make sure we have the right plan in place and the right financing model so that the client can achieve the highest reward of their investment in the clinic,” he said.

The model already has proven effective for others. OTC opened an in-house clinic in 2007 for its full-time employees and their dependents, under the direction of Dr. Jim Blaine.

OTC Director of Communications Mark Miller said in 2012, the most recent data available, OTC asked its insurance broker to compare its insurance usage rate to similar organizations in size that also use CoxHealth – and it was good news for the school. OTC had 11 percent fewer emergency room visits, 17 percent fewer urgent care visits and 23 percent fewer office visits to other physicians including specialists.

“While it is difficult to say that all of lower usage was due to the OTC clinic, based on that analysis, OTC has determined that having Dr. Blaine on campus pays for itself,” Miller said.

With 540 full-time employees on staff, Miller said OTC pays Blaine $50 per full-time employee per month, or about $27,000.

“OTC provides office space to Dr. Blaine, but all other expenses, staff, equipment, supplies, insurance are provided by Dr. Blaine,” Miller said, noting the per-employee fee also includes dependents.

As of Jan. 26, Blaine recorded 20,733 visits since the clinic opened. As Clay predicted, Miller noted there also is a reduction in lost work time because employees don’t have to leave campus to see the doctor. Tobacco use among OTC employees also is down 4 percent, and each year Blaine administers 600 flu shots to OTC employees and their dependents.

Miller declined to disclose how much the clinic has saved the school since its inception.

“Dr. Blaine’s services are extremely popular among employees and OTC sees it as a fantastic benefit for employee,” Miller said.