When the country’s largest emergency transport service launched a program in Portland, Ore., to provide on-site occupational medicine services for large manufacturing plants, CFOs and HR managers at participating firms were amazed at how much money they saved.
Emergency care costs were radically reduced. Down time was minimized. And liability was practically eliminated.
The Mobile Business Aid program, piloted by American Medical Response, was so successful that companies in other states started chasing the ambulatory idea. Spotlighting AMR’s new service on the ABC Evening News in January 1997, Peter Jennings emphasized that typical emergency room expenditures total $1,000, and almost two-thirds of ER visits are unnecessary. Considering AMR’s $200 per-use tab for MBA “house calls,” it’s no wonder businesses are signing up en masse to reduce costs.
One year after the ABC News broadcast, Akron General Medical Centers became one of the first hospitals in Ohio to contract with AMR to develop a similar program for Akron General Health System’s CorpCare division.
“We took the MBA concept and enhanced it to link with CorpCare as an existing occupational medicine provider, and today, we have 50 local client companies with over 70 different response locations that use the service,” says Harry Kuhn, CorpCare director.
The way CorpCare’s MBA program works, Kuhn explains, is that when a minor injury occurs in a client company’s workplace, the client calls an 800 number to summon an MBA unit. The occupational medicine mobile unit is staffed with specially trained paramedics or emergency medical technicians that operate under CorpCare protocols. The response time is typically under 20 minutes.
If the injury is not severe, MBA response staff administers first aid on the scene, eliminating the need for (and cost of) an emergency room visit. If appropriate, a follow-up visit with a medical provider is scheduled.
When more specialized care is required, MBA transports the injured worker to the hospital’s ER or freestanding occupational medicine center — at no extra charge. After the patient is treated, MBA takes the individual back to the workplace.
Kuhn says a crucial component of MBA’s success is AMR’s alliance with clinics and hospitals.
“The key to occupational medicine is providing prompt, adequate treatment while also minimizing lost time,” he says. “One benefit of AMR’s link with CorpCare is that, when an injury is serious enough to warrant transport, they’re operating under our protocol, so we can see the patient almost immediately upon injury.”
In terms of dollar savings, Kuhn says many CorpCare clients save 20 percent or more in costs associated with treating minor injuries.
“But the biggest benefits are that the company doesn’t have the liability of deciding if an injured worker should go to a hospital; they don’t have to pull another worker off the job to drive them there; and it eliminates the liability of sending employees out on the road,” he says.
Before Summit Racing Equipment subscribed to CorpCare’s MBA, a supervisor trained in first aid would triage the injured worker, then drive the individual to a treatment facility.
“Not only were we putting that supervisor at risk for performing first aid, but we were also taking two bodies away from the job for the entire time that person was being checked out at the doctor’s office,” says human resources manager Tim Hesketh.
Calculating the costs associated with such a scenario, Hesketh says Summit Racing saves about $100 each time MBA is summoned instead. And when MBA response staff must merely administer first aid, additional expenses of the ER, lab, radiology and physician fees are eliminated.
“To me, that’s more than a wash,” says Hesketh.
When Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital contracted with AMR in September 1998, the provider included its ER facility and WorkWise Occupational Health Services into its MBA program. WorkWise is housed in the hospital’s freestanding MedPoint urgent care, family practice and drug screening facility on Graham Road in Stow.
“WorkWise handles the people we treat through AMR,” clarifies Martha Kelsey, the hospital’s marketing director.
Kelsey stresses that MBA is not intended to replace 911; rather, it is geared to the care of minor workplace injuries.
“They’re not acting as emergency paramedics. They’re performing first aid, or they’re making an assessment on the severity of the injury,” she says. “The advantage is that they’re operating under the medical direction of our doctors.”
Also beneficial to companies is MBA’s inclusion of drug and alcohol testing services, which can be done on the job site whether an injury has occurred or not. Kelsey says many clients favor MBA for that reason alone.
“Certain regulations that apply to the Department of Transportation require that any employee who is a driver must have a post-accident drug test. That doesn’t apply in all cases, but some employers want that to be part of their post-accident screening,” she says.
CorpCare’s MBA drug and alcohol testing service was a factor that swayed Summit Racing, says Hesketh.
“To comply with the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Drug-Free Workplace Program, despite how minor the injury is, we require the test,” he says.
Kuhn and Kelsey agree that MBA is a highly effective solution for businesses to control health care-related costs. Both predict the program will expand throughout the northern Ohio business community.
“We’re expanding our program into Stark and Cuyahoga counties within the next few months,” Kuhn remarks.
Still, one CorpCare client says MBA has a downside.
Sheila Tabalus, human resources safety and training coordinator for Falls Stamping & Welding Co., says the drawback is that the medical expertise of MBA response staff is limited to treating only minor injuries.
While she is pleased that MBA has freed her supervisors from having to act as nursemaids, and admits that its drug/alcohol screening has saved the company time and money, Tabalus says she’d like to see just one more perk: house calls where there really is a doctor in the house.
How to reach: Akron General CorpCare (888) 218-2273; Cuyahoga Falls General Hospital (330) 928-9596