The future of employee quality care

The number of uncertainties in the healthcare sector in South Africa now brings with them a number of opportunities, as businesses strive to maintain steady production. To sustain this, employers must ensure their staff receive quality care in an efficient manner.

This makes on-site clinics the route to take for companies whose success is dependent on sustaining a healthy, productive workforce.

Enter Calibre Clinical Consultants, a provider of health and wellness solutions that assists organisations to implement effective on-site clinic management with a business model that starts with meeting the clinic’s legislative requirements and continues through to enabling employers to deliver valuable health services that focus on the employee.

Say’s Erick Vischer of Calibre Clinical Consultants: “Where worksite clinics once focused on treating work-related illnesses and injuries, employers are increasingly using them to provide a wide array of primary care services.

“These clinics are also increasingly offering ancillary services, such as the management of chronic conditions, family planning, pharmacy and more – all without shifting undue costs to workers.”

“South Africa has a chronic shortage of well-functioning primary care facilities in the public sector,” he notes, adding that by establishing a new clinic or expanding an existing occupational health facility to provide general medical services, employers can ensure that their employees and their families have timely access to quality care.

Portability, flexibility, affordability

Self-funded healthcare programs are often preferred over fully insured programs by employers, because self-funding offers portability, optimal flexibility and greater customisation. This includes loss-reduction strategy; healthcare plan design and administration; reduction of premium tax and commissions; and provision of services with the greatest level of transparency with regard to the true costs of administration.

“In addition,” says Vischer, “cost savings from favourable claims remain in plan reserves, unlike fully-insured programs where premiums are an unrecoverable cost.”

On-site clinics primarily benefit self-funded employers, as they provide a cost effective way to deliver primary care for employees and sometimes their dependents. To benefit, an employer needs to have a critical mass of employees near a common location. Furthermore, the solution is saleable from initial health impact analysis stage right through to a full-service bricks & mortar solution.

CEO of Grobank, Bennie van Rooy, says: “Grobank believes that this strategy is geared for savings without cost shifting. It also helps employees to establish a relationship with the primary health care provider.”

“The use of on-site clinics has grown in many sectors in recent years, with business realising the potential for access to quality and timely care resulting in an increase in productivity, a reduction in absenteeism and improved employee health. Calibre Clinical Consultants are at the forefront of this new healthcare model.” Grobank clients receive a free health risk impact assessment for their employees which will highlight the potential Return on Investment with an implemented solution. This will include an assessment of the potential future effects of COVID19 on the employees, a study which is currently underway amongst medical and actuarial specialists.

For more information, visit the Calibre Clinical Consultants website or contact Erick Vischer directly, in any of the followings ways:

Email: erick@vischer.co.za or Tel: 082 440 7670