Integrating Services in Small and Rural Markets

Small and rural markets can capitalize on personal connections with local employers to acquire market share and enhance their service to the community.

Brad LeBaron, Chief executive officer
of Uintah Basin Medical Center

There’s a significant opportunity for small and rural healthcare providers to better serve local employers and patients in their communities, said panelists who participated in a Webinar on March 7 called “Developing Integrated Services for Small and Rural Markets,” hosted by RYAN Associates.

By serving local employers better, small and rural providers will, in turn, improve the health of the total population in their communities and their own bottom lines, panelists said. Reaching out to local businesses to enhance employee health with integrated services is becoming ever more important because of healthcare reform and changing reimbursement models. Even besides new federal mandates, employers are seeking out value-based purchasing and other alternative payment models to get more bang for their healthcare buck.

“I see employers moving towards defining the amount of money they are willing to pay rather than the sort of open-ended defined benefit,” said Brad LeBaron, chief executive officer of 42-bed Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt, Utah, and a Webinar panelist. Mr. LeBaron went on to say that healthcare providers can be teachers to local employers about new models in healthcare delivery and reimbursement. “I think healthcare leaders have an important role to play in helping businesses in their communities come to understand the opportunities that are going to exist in the new economic model,” he said.

Delivering the Total Package: Over 100 organizations signed up to listen to the Webinar, a sign of the keen interest in rural and small community providers in how to form stronger and more lasting partnerships with local employers. Local healthcare providers can deliver the total package to employers hungry to improve employee health and stay in compliance with rules around workers’ compensation, said Roy Gerber, national director of consulting services at RYAN Associates, and a panelist on the Webinar.

“If a healthcare organization is really serious about meeting the needs of their community, they have to think about workplace health,” Mr. Gerber said. The savviest employers are moving towards total health management of their workers and away from cost-shifting benefits to workers to save money, he said. Other employers are expected to follow suit. Local providers have a golden opportunity to position themselves as total health providers – this includes urgent care, occupational health, wellness programs, sports medicine, women’s health, and other services, he said.

Frank Leone, president and CEO of RYAN Associates and moderator of the Webinar, emphasized that there are enormous synergies between urgent care and occupational health, and more and more providers are blending the two. But he added that market research is key to understanding employer needs. A lot of the market research should be geared towards finding out what the needs are for the few large employers in those areas and then be willing to customize services to meet those needs, Mr. Leone said. That research can pay off over time. “When you do something for this well-known employer or that well-known employer then indeed you are that much more credible to mid-size employers,” Mr. Leone said.

Being small has its advantages, said Jody Vondra, director of development and marketing at Crete Area Medical Center in Crete, Neb. “Being small, we have the ability to customize,” Ms. Vondra said on the Webinar. She added this means being able to “listen, reach out and meet specific needs and then grow from there.”

Naturally, smaller providers have fewer resources, so it’s important to make the most of what you’ve got, Mr. Leone said, including space limitations and staffing. Ms. Vondra said her medical center has found a way to do this by leveraging its strengths and community ties. For instance, the medical center provides sports medicine to a local liberal arts college. The college has excellent facilities to conduct the sports medicine program so quality of care is never compromised, she said.

In terms of practical tips on implementation, Ms. Vondra said a physical therapist oversees the program so all rehabilitation protocols are adhered to closely. The three athletic trainers on staff follow policies and procedures of the medical center and of the college. And the medical director at Crete Area Medical Center has a strong relationship and history with the college, she added.

Uintah Basin Medical Center, Roosevelt, Utah

“Healthcare leaders have an important role to play in helping businesses in their communities come to understand the opportunities that are going to exist in the new economic model.” – Brad LeBaron, Chief Executive Officer at Uintah Basin Medical Center, Roosevelt, Utah

The employer community is becoming ever more important as medical providers must think about the overall health of their communities and changes to reimbursement, Ms. Vondra said. “If your mission is to serve the total population of your community, you have to get in there and measure it,” she said. “It’s critical to your mission and critical to the bottom line.”

Making a Good Impression with Key Employers: Mr. Gerber said providers should make it easy for employers to see value by bundling services. For instance, don’t make them deal with billing from four different hospital departments, but instead think about the end-user experience. Sales and marketing can help. “Even designating a part-time person is a step in the right direction,” he said. Make a good impression with a key employer, and more will follow, said Mr. Leone. “In a small market, the importance of a major, major employer cannot be overstated,” Mr. Leone said. “When it comes to bundling, reduce your universe to the handful of employers that make your smaller community work. Get that done first, do that well and the halo effect will follow, in my opinion.”

Reach out to employers by having your hospital CEO invite the CEOs of key local companies to a breakfast meeting once or twice per month, Mr. Leone said. Providers can capture downstream revenues such as imaging, rehabilitation, and orthopedics from employers as well. “The employer as a payer class is underdeveloped,” Mr. Gerber said. The bottom line? “Educate, educate, educate,” Mr. Leone said. “Employers and workforces are sponges for education.”