For years, on-campus health centers have conveniently served the healthcare needs of students. These student health centers have provided a broad set of acute care services designed to address student’s health needs while accommodating the population health requirements of the college or university. Below is a sampling of some of the services available at student health centers:
- On site appointments for acute minor illnesses or injuries
- Minor office procedures
- Well exams for men and women
- Birth control education and oral contraceptive prescriptions
- Sports/fitness physical and/or injury evaluation
- RN assessment and consultation
- Rapid strep, mono, flu, STD testing
- Pregnancy testing
- Urinalysis testing
- EKG testing
- Nebulizer treatments
- Allergy shots
- Routine Immunizations
- Annual Flu shots
- PPD (TB) skin testing and interpretation
- Prescription dispensing
Recently, the long time success of student health centers has begun to intersect with a rapidly growing trend: onsite employee health centers. Employee health centers are not a new development. Employers have been exploring ways to keep employees healthy and productive for many years. Onsite or nearsite clinics were often only available to the very largest of employers. Increasing healthcare costs and the growing availability of mid-level practitioners like Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants have now put onsite/nearsite employee health clinics within the reach of many employers.
Colleges and universities are beginning to realize that their existing investment in a student health center can be leveraged to support employee health in ways that address rising healthcare costs while providing value and convenience to employees. These onsite health centers are providing primary care services to employees as well as their families and focus on managing acute and chronic conditions in convenient, cost effective ways.
These combo clinics take a specialized approach to students as well as employees. Typically, the health center offers separate entrances for students and employees. Privacy and discretion are critical to the success of these clinics as they work to make university employees and students comfortable with on-campus healthcare. In addition, a broader set of services are offered to employees as the school seeks to address the broadest set of healthcare expenses possible. As the health center expands due to the addition of employee health, new services become available to the students and the value proposition of the health center grows.
What are the possibilities? Colleges and universities are attracted to the savings provided by onsite clinics. Reductions in the cost of primary care, lab services and medication expenses are very appealing to schools experiencing double digit annual increases in their healthcare costs. In addition, onsite wellness programs offer great potential to support ongoing employee health in the university setting. The overall result is enhanced access to health services, lower healthcare costs (or at least a lower rate of growth), employees and students getting better faster and a complete population health solution to avoid flu and other outbreaks on campus.
Northwind Pharmaceuticals is dedicated to helping our college and university clients implement cost effective onsite medication dispensing programs that help patients get better faster. Call or email us today to learn how we can help you add dispensing to your service mix or to discuss best practices for adding employee health services within your existing student health center.
