A Different Kind Of Life

Chapter 36

"Hi Everyone, thank you for Coming." Logan said standing up at the front of the room. "Samantha, Kimberly, Doctor Greenley, it's nice to see you again. I'm guessing everyone is wondering why I have asked you all to be here, so let me start by making a couple of brief introductions. Mr. Stanley, Mr. Brown . . . Thank you so much for coming. Mr. Brown and Mr. Stanley are both here representing UnitedHealth Care, the insurance company for all HPG employees. Everyone else here in this room today, is on the hospital board at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, where I am an emergency room doctor, along with Doctor Greenley. Many of you know my wife, Rory Huntzberger, CEO of Huntzberger Publishing Group. The reason we have asked you all to be here today, is because we have a proposition for all of you. This idea was proposed to me by a close family friend, and I think that it would benefit all of the HPG employees in the area, as well as Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. There are many large employers throughout the country that along with providing a generous health insurance package, also provide an on-site health care clinic to their employees. In each clinic, there is one doctor and 1-2 nurses. These clinics are not accessible by the public. They are strictly available only for employees of each company, and members of the employee's immediate family. In most of the clinics, the doctor on staff has rights at the local hospital, where they are able to see their patients should they be admitted. However, what I am proposing to you goes a little bit further. What I am proposing is an employee clinic for Huntzberger Publishing Group, that is an extension of Columbia Presbyterian. The clinic will be run by a doctor and nurses that are provided by the hospital, use all the same computer systems that are fully connected and accessible by any health care provider at either the clinic, or at the hospital, at any time. All of the patient records will remain property of Columbia Presbyterian. While most of the clinics that I looked into are privately staffed and  funded, being a hospital partnership gives Columbia Presbyterian guaranteed patients. While Huntzberger Publishing Group only has around 500 employees in New York, we have thousands of others all over the world. Any of those employees would have access to the clinic. That means that any specialty procedure that is wanting to be done, rather than pay out of pocket and extra fees to have the procedure performed at some other hospital, the employee can choose to come here, to New York, and have their procedure done by a world class surgeon right here at Columbia. By doing so, the employee would be paying less out of pocket because of the current insurance partnership, but also would have follow up care right here at our clinic. Also, any employees who are traveling to New York on business, which happens a lot in the newspaper business, any of those employees who require medical care would be able to be treated right here in the on-site clinic. Having an on-site clinic cuts down on time off work needed by every employee for all of their medical care. What would normally end up being a day off of work for the employee to see their doctor, would end up being less than an hour off of work. Our employees in the New York City area, would be able to set an appointment right from their computer. And anyone in this office building would only have a short elevator ride to the doctor's office. They would be able to see the doctor on staff within a couple of minutes, and get right back to work instantly. There wouldn't be any travel time involved, no days away from work. We could work it out so that the employee could see the doctor either on their lunch break, or they can take a medical break. We can figure out how to allow the time. But the point is that the employee would be able to see a doctor and then go right back to work, with very little disruption to the work day. In other companies that provide on-site employee clinics, they have also cut back on each employee's co-pay. Many of the clinics only charge a $5 co-pay, and still receive all of the same care that they would receive going to another doctor's office. All of the medical benefits remain the same. There aren't any changes to the health care policy at all. But the co-pay for the employee clinic is significantly less than it is to see any other doctor. It's a win for the employee, a win for the company, and a win for the hospital. And as for the insurance company, it's a definite win because the billing becomes a lot easier. There is no out of network doctor or fees. Everything for the employee is covered by the current health care plan that the company already has in place." Logan explained.