OnSiteClinics.Org

Report Links Lower Healthcare Costs with After Hours Access

A study reported in the Annals of Family Medicine (Vol 10, No. 5 September/October, 2012 pages 388-395) links reduced overall health care expenditures with access to extended office hours in the primary care office.  The study, conducted by members of the Department of Family and Community Medicine, Center for Healthcare Policy and Research, University of California Davis School of Medicine, was based on data collected from the 2000-2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys and the findings conclude that there is a relationship between extended office hours availability and total expenditures – specifically a reduction in prescription drug costs and testing ordered during an office visit.

This is a highly-academic study.   Interestingly it also showed that those survey participants who reported having extended access were “. . . younger, had higher incomes and more education, were more likely to reside in urban areas and the Northeast, were more likely to have private insurance, and had better health status and fewer health conditions.”

These characteristics may or may not fit the profile of your employees and their dependents, but the access to extended hours should.  This report confirms what many already know, that access to care with consistently the same provider(s) reduces costs overall – in this study primarily in prescription medication costs.