Cerner Health Conference is scheduled for Nov. 14-17, in Kansas City, Missouri. Join us for the panel education session: Innovations in on-site care for your workforce on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 3 p.m.
Employers pay more for health care today than ever before and many have turned to on-site health centers to control costs, increase preventive care and improve employee satisfaction.
At this year’s conference, Cerner will present a panel of organizations sharing the impact of integrating a variety of health and care services to manage the health and well-being of their workforce. This concept is a movement that crosses multiple industries including civic organizations, health systems, large public and private companies and trade unions who are embracing the benefits of offering quality health care at lower costs to their employees.
Two of those organizations will be represented on Tuesday’s panel, including representatives from the City of Lenexa, a government employer in Kansas and Children’s Mercy Hospital, a comprehensive pediatric medical center in Kansas City.
The City of Lenexa covers approximately 650 lives, and offers on-site health and wellness to employees through its LiveWell program. Within two years of its launch collaborating with Cerner, results show that 77 percent of participating employees improved risk factors or maintained their health status despite aging one year. Additionally, 52 percent of employees designated a provider at the on-site health center as their primary care physician. Currently, more than 93 percent of full-time employees are enrolled and participating in the LiveWell program.
Further, to better manage the health of its workforce, the hours of the health center were adjusted to accommodate employees’ schedules, including opening earlier on certain days. Clinical staff were added including a full-time physician assistant, medical assistant coach and part-time medical doctor. Cerner set up a partnership with cardiologists and dermatologists to proactively manage conditions outside of the scope of services offered in the health center.
Together, Children’s Mercy and Cerner have collaborated to offer a series of programs fully devoted to health and well-being. Employees at Children’s Mercy can take advantage of high quality education that’s tailored to a health care workforce. For instance, employees can make an appointment with a behavioral therapist to discuss stress management techniques in a high-pressure work environment.
The immediate impact at the Children’s Mercy Employee Wellness Center has been very positive. The average appointment time for an acute and urgent care visit is 25 minutes and 45 minute appointments for complete physicals and patients with more complex issues. More time is spent with the patient and it provides an ideal scenario to address any last minute concerns, for instance, a mention of depression or intermittent chest pain. With the on-site pharmacy, providers can instantly collaborate with pharmacy staff making them an integrated and key part of the care team.
We’re eager to share more results and what’s next for the future of on-site employer care. The panel will discuss strategy and how these initiatives are influencing the health of their company and communities.
