I was cleaning out my e-mail inbox the other day — scanning for upcoming deadlines, meeting notices and pending requests — when I noticed a rather large number of promotional e-mails for onsite health clinic conferences. The onsite clinic is an interesting twist on an old concept that can really save a lot of money in the long run.

Onsite health clinics previously were used solely by large manufacturing companies and focused mainly on occupational health and emergency first aid, but those days are long gone. Nowadays, onsite health clinics have become the frontline in the battle against rising health care costs.

The concept is simple: Health clinics allow employees and dependents to receive medical care outside the insurance-controlled system. So, rather than getting the average seven-to-10 minutes of face time with their physician during routine office visits then getting slapped with the $150 to $200 bill, employees receive medical care at a facility paid directly by their employer.

Focused care, lower costs

The benefits for both parties are substantial. Although different health clinic vendors use different models, onsite clinics typically allow for significantly more face time with health care professionals and frequently are staffed by nurse practitioners who are more focused on health coaching and prevention, which, to a large degree, is missing in today's health care system. Such targeted, personalized care will improve the overall health of your employed population and save you a lot on insurance claims.

While nurse practitioners have certain limitations, they appropriately can address 80% to 90% of the issues normally reserved for a primary care physician. Most clinics also employ a board-licensed physician who provides medical oversight - either remotely or as part of the onsite medical staff - to cover most eventualities.

Health clinics have the potential to lower a company's medical claims is by redirecting primary care. Most onsite clinics are able to charge half the cost of a traditional doctor visit because they are paid directly by the company, cutting out the expensive insurance middlemen. Indeed, one of the most significant advantages is that onsite clinics allow medical professionals to practice health care free from the distraction of the third-party payer system and focus on what they were trained to do: make and keep people well.

Affordability

In most cases, it would not be financially feasible for companies with less than 500 employees to have a dedicated health clinic. However, there are several options smaller companies can consider and still reap health improvement and cost-cutting benefits.

A number of business incubators and technology parks offer shared health clinic models. In that way, companies with as few as five employees can still utilize this game-changing service without footing the entire bill by collaborating with other businesses.

Another option for smaller companies is to set up a part-time health clinic. In my experience, that has proven to be a great way to get employees involved and interested without a significant financial commitment. Because such a part-time model is geared toward wellness visits and not sick visits, it could even be initially staffed by a nurse for only six to eight hours a week. However, it remains important to have an engagement strategy that encourages your employees to actively utilize the services that a health and wellness nurse has to offer.

Integration

Because prescription drugs can be dispensed through the clinic - which can greatly improve medication plan adherence - a great incentive would be to provide maintenance drugs at no cost to employees with chronic conditions, so long as they come to the clinic for monthly follow-ups. At the same time, a clinic would provide face-to-face case management opportunities for high-risk employees within your insured population, which is far superior to phone-based disease management alternatives.

Clinics also integrate extremely well into existing wellness programs and create significant synergistic effects. They can also be adapted to many business models. Indeed, some companies that have multiple locations have set up mobile clinics to cover all their geographically disbursed locations.

From an employee relations perspective you also can't overlook the positive impact you can generate within your workforce and their dependents by offering free medical services and with no paperwork required.