Healthstat tapped to manage Arkansas BCBS on-site health clinic

Based on its model of managing chronic illness and proactive health management, Healthstat has been selected by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield to manage an on-site health clinic for employees and dependents covered under its health benefit plan.

Arkansas BCBS is one of the largest employers in the state, with more than 2,700 employees. The program is intended to show other businesses in the state how they might benefit from a similar program.

[See also: Arkansas BCBS launches medical home pilot]

Costs for the on-site Healthstat clinic will be covered by the diversion of money spent in other healthcare settings to the employee clinic, officials said, with the intention to show savings through better and more active management of employees' health.

"The direct correlation between a person's health and cost is undeniable and Healthstat has a proven model of employee health management," said Richard Cooper, Arkansas Blue Cross' vice president of human resources. "We are working to reduce our healthcare costs by improving the health status of our employees and have made the clinic accessible to their families because we see value and opportunity in family wellness initiatives."

The clinic at Arkansas BCBS' corporate headquarters in Little Rock will provide disease management, health risk counseling and acute and urgent care for individuals covered under the company's health benefit plan. Officials said it will provide better management of employee health, save time for employees who would otherwise have to leave work for appointments, reduce average wait times to less than 15 minutes per patient and improve employee productivity.

According to Healthstat officials, within 36 months, the combination of better care and less time away from work will likely translate to a savings of $3 for every $1 the company invests in the clinic.

"It is particularly gratifying to serve as the solution provider of choice for the state's largest health insurer. There's probably no company in the state that better understands today's healthcare spending crisis than Arkansas Blue Cross, and they know that the best way to combat rising healthcare costs is to insure that employees get the care they need to achieve optimal health status," said Crokett Dale, Healthstat's CEO.