Considering Advanced Primary Care But Worried About the Risk?

It's completely natural to have concerns about potential risks when exploring compelling healthcare trends, like Advanced Primary Care. This fear often stems from a lack of understanding or misinformation.

The good news for you is Advanced Primary Care isn’t as daunting as it may seem. It can be an effective way to approach health risk management and improve your workers’ health outcomes – not to mention it’s proven to lower your overall total cost of care. 

Benefits of Advanced Primary Care

There are many benefits to embracing healthcare trends like Advanced Primary Care. Cost-savings is the obvious one. But the benefits extend far beyond just saving money. Other advantages include:

• Improved health outcomes
• High patient-provider trust scores & improved relationships
• Convenient access to care
• More time spent with providers
• Personalized comprehensive services
• Same- or next-day appointment availability for urgent issues 
• Predictive analytics to ensure you’re offering patient-centered care your team needs
• High engagement for increased ROI
• Low- or no-copays for workers and their families

How to address concerns and mitigate risk

Having apprehensions about cost, getting buy-in, and employee engagement after implementing Advanced Primary Care is normal – these are actually some of the most significant health risk management concerns we see from prospective partners.  

Cost: Internal Everside Health research shows that Advanced Primary Care is overwhelmingly cost-beneficial in the long run, offering year-over-year ROI. Everside Health partners can see a gross average savings of up to 17% within 3 years and 31% within 5. And the annual inflation trend is 1.1%, compared to the national benchmark of 6 - 7%. 

Buy-in: Getting buy-in is another common worry when determining whether to make the leap. To get leadership – and your team – on board, communicating benefits clearly and effectively is crucial. Be sure to promote the benefits of cost-savings and improved health outcomes that will increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, and enhance employee retention.  

Employee engagement: When considering the addition or modification of benefits, it's natural to want to ensure high engagement. Everside Health partners consistently experience robust and active usage. Educating your workforce and sharing information during the decision-making process can help ensure everyone understands what’s changing – and why – ultimately driving engagement starting as soon as implementation is complete. 

Strategies and solutions for mitigating concerns

A thoughtful approach can make the shift to Advanced Primary Care seamless and successful. Use the following strategies to reduce issues as you adopt this innovative healthcare trend:

Use a phased implementation

Start small and scale up over time. This lets you learn from each step of the process while lowering risk and helps everyone acclimate to the change you’re adopting. 

Focus on effective communication

Clearly articulating and promoting Advanced Primary Care benefits is vital to getting buy-in. This means addressing questions and concerns head-on and making information accessible to ensure everyone understands what changes will mean for them.

Work with a trusted, experienced primary care provider

Everside Health is a reliable ally. We’re here to support you every step of the way and are proud of the solid and lasting relationships we’ve built with our partners.

ROI on your investment

Investing in Advanced Primary Care is about more than just the cost-savings you see on paper. Yes, the well-being of your workforce is a key factor that drives productivity and reduces turnover, both of which will improve your bottom line. But savings are also realized by the people who work for you through low- or no-copays and better outcomes that reduce future care costs.

Everside Health understands that a positive ROI is vital. We work  to ensure you see actual returns when you offer patient-centered care. We focus on delivering value for our clients, and we’ve spent years earning trust and helping people achieve better results, lower total cost of care, and create happier, more productive workforces.

The risk of not adapting

Simply put, the traditional healthcare model doesn’t work. The cost of care has gone up by 20% in the last 5 years and more than 40% in the last decade – and it will continue to rise in the future. In addition to the financial pressure organizations will feel if they don’t take action, they’ll likely also: 

• Struggle to attract the best talent
• See an uptick in turnover as competition begins to offer better benefits
• Experience low morale
• Have sicker workforces

Steps to integrating Advanced Primary Care into benefits packages

You can successfully adopt and integrate Advanced Primary Care as part of your enhanced benefits packages by following simple steps.

• Assess employee needs: Take the time to understand people’s needs so you can design an Advanced Primary Care program that suits your individualized workforce.
• Design the Advanced Primary Care program: Tailor services based on assessed needs can improve usage and outcomes. For example, depending on your workforce’s health profile, you might focus more on preventive care or chronic disease management, or you may find you need to add on additional mental health options or occupational health solutions.
• Communication and education: Education about the benefits of Advanced Primary Care is essential. Clear communication paves the way for a smooth transition as you integrate Advanced Primary Care into existing benefits packages.
• Training and support: A critical part of adopting Advanced Primary Care lies in providing proper training and support for workers and management and leadership who will oversee these new programs daily.
• Measure success and outcomes: To gauge success, measure outcomes like improved health metrics or reduced costs over time. These results will be pivotal in demonstrating Advanced Primary Care’s value within your organization’s benefit package.

Case Studies

By embracing Advanced Primary Care, organizations can experience higher patient-provider trust, convenient care access, and personalized services. Learn from the success of the Local 440 union's implementation and strategies to address concerns, mitigate risks, and achieve a positive ROI. 

Implement Advanced Primary Care without the risk

Everside Health is here to help you navigate your journey and capitalize on recent healthcare trends by adopting Advanced Primary Care. Our award-winning services ensure your workforce stays healthy while controlling healthcare costs.

Can your organization really afford to miss out on the benefits of Advanced Primary Care? Don’t let fear hold back your organization’s progress – reach out today to start the process.

Sources:

https://www.kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2022-summary-of-findings/