Plan sponsors who value their employees’ wellness may find themselves unable to provide as many benefits as they’d like due to high prescription coverage costs. Every chronic medical condition will be treated with drugs, so despite the expensive effects of a complex supply chain, paying those costs is a necessity. Fortunately, there is a way for employers to take matters into their own hands and offer more for their employees without further inflating the budget. Those with a large number of local employees would do well to consider opening an on-site pharmacy instead of following the traditional model.
What an On-Site Pharmacy Can Do for Employees
Opening an on-site pharmacy which employees and their dependents can easily access will trim the supply chain, giving plan sponsors direct access to the buying power held by the wholesaler. This directly leads to prescription coverage savings that, after year one, could realistically exceed expenses. Naturally, this gives employers more flexibility to enrich their group health benefits.
Here are several positive effects that an on-site pharmacy can have for employees:
Reducing Costs
It may take only one visit for employees to learn that they, too, can save quite a bit of money at an on-site pharmacy. This is because the system contributes to a significant decrease in copays in addition to lowering prescription coverage costs. It’s also worth noting that copay differentials aren’t just directly linked to on-site pharmacy adoption—they’re also the top predictor of on-site pharmacy adoption.
Chronic Care Management
At an on-site pharmacy, employees can benefit from pharmacist-led chronic care management programs covering a wide range of conditions such as:
- Asthma
- COPD
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
Enhancing Wellness Initiatives
By saving money on prescription coverage costs, employers can gain the flexibility to add or improve employee wellness programs. The on-site pharmacy can be a valuable asset to any wellness program, as it can facilitate measurements such as blood pressure and weight that are important to any program. What’s more, boosting employee benefits won’t incur additional costs with an on-site pharmacy.
How to Open an On-Site Pharmacy
There’s plenty of work that goes into the creation of an on-site pharmacy. After all, it will require having a physical space, a full staff, equipment and inventory, licensure, and more. Creating a substantial amount of new work and costs to budget for to take on may seem counterintuitive. But all an employer needs to make it work without becoming a burden is the right partnership.
On-Site Rx, Inc. has worked closely with large employers throughout the Eastern and Central time zones since 2008 to implement full-service, on-site pharmacies and help enrich employee health benefits. Besides the physical location, we provide all of the services needed to open and operate an on-site pharmacy catering to employees and their dependents. We will:
- Recruit staff and manage the pharmacy
- Provide supplies, furniture, fixtures, and equipment
- Conduct thorough analysis of claims data
- Obtain necessary licensure
- And more
Contact us today to learn more about our model and how we can help your organization improve employee wellness.
