A Message from Premise Health COO Beth Ratliff

This year continues to present unexpected challenges, and we are doing everything possible to support and guide you through each twist and turn. While our day-to-day lives continue to evolve, we hope you’ve found a constant in our commitment to your people. Regardless of what is going on in the world, we want our members to feel cared for when they’re interacting with our providers, whether digitally or in-person. In my role, I’m lucky to hear firsthand how our providers are making an impact. Today I would like to share some of those stories with you and further explain how we’re continuing to prioritize the member experience.

Looking back, looking ahead

Over the summer, I was finally able to visit many of our sites and thank our team members for all of their hard work and sacrifices to keep our members safe and healthy throughout the pandemic. When I met with clients and our teams at several sites in New York City, they shared how impactful it was for them to be able to quickly pivot in order to support workplace safety during the pandemic through screening and testing programs. Yet, in addition to these essential initiatives, I also heard from teams that some of the most important work they did focused on mental and behavioral health support, and on engaging members in their overall health.

We all recognize the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t only impact the physical health of our members. Clients across the country have spoken with me about the increasing prevalence of mental health issues within their populations, especially among essential workers and working parents. Many of you have already taken steps to support your people – since February 2019, we’ve tripled the number of clients who now offer behavioral health services. Our ability to deliver this care virtually using a care team approach has been instrumental in meeting the needs of our members, and our teams have also gotten creative with how to provide additional support. At one site, we developed and delivered a program called “The Happiness Project,” modeled after Gretchen Rubin’s well-known book and research, after our client’s front-line managers expressed more was needed to support their employees who were feeling burned out, stressed, and disengaged.

In the countless stories I’ve heard this year, a common theme was always the importance of engaging members, especially in the increasingly virtual environment we find ourselves in. Whether it be through a follow up message, proactive phone call, or in-person consultation, I’ve been in awe of everything our teams are doing to keep members engaged with their center and their wellbeing. One effort took place at a site in New Orleans, which was a hot spot early in the pandemic. The health center manager recognized members needed support, so she inquired about hosting a Zoom session on emotional wellbeing. Her leaders, the client’s HR team, and EAP were all on board, and their first session was a huge success. Afterwards, they received numerous phone calls from members inquiring about the next session, and they hosted several more virtual events following their success.

Delivering high-quality experiences with provider dispensing 

Having great healthcare experiences is critical to helping people live healthier, happier lives. If members aren’t engaged in their health and with your wellness center, we’re missing an opportunity to help them — and you likely won’t see the broader outcomes you’re looking for. That’s why we take a member-focused approach to everything we do and partner closely with you to develop strategies and deploy products that help drive member engagement and increase the impact of your center overall.

Provider dispensing is one strategy that many of our clients are considering to improve engagement. Provider dispensing makes it easier for members to get the medication they need at the point of care. You may know it as pre-pack, in-office, or point of care dispensing, but simply put, it allows pre-packed medication to be dispensed in the exam room at the time of an appointment, which offers members convenient and streamlined access to treatment. Not only does it promote medication adherence, but it also provides a more convenient experience. Members can skip making a separate trip to the pharmacy by working directly with their provider, in turn strengthening the member-provider relationship we base our care on.

Provider dispensing is available through both onsite and nearsite wellness centers, and offers safe, confidential, and convenient access to medications for acute and chronic conditions, often in 90-day supplies. If an onsite pharmacy hasn’t been an option for you in the past, this is a great alternative. Many of our clients offer provider dispensing, and one in particular shared that it is the key to success for their overall program and is highly valued by their members. Should you be interested to help provide a superior member experience, your DCO would be happy to have a conversation with you.

Bringing care close to home

Outside of our many products, Premise continues to advance convenient access to care, helping people engage with a provider in whatever way they prefer. We know your people are your top priority, including spouses and eligible dependents, who collectively account for around 65% of claims spend for employers. We believe in providing multiple access points to make care easy for your entire population, which has become especially important as many of you have increased the number of employees who work remotely. Your onsite center may be too far from where dependents or remote employees live or, for some of you, it’s part of a secure location that isn’t accessible for those that aren’t employees.

In those situations, nearsite centers, care built around where members live in the community, are a great complement to onsite centers to fill the gap for members’ families and remote employees. Nearsites can be either dedicated or shared – the former serves one organization’s population and can be tailored to their unique needs, while the latter is more common and shared among multiple organizations to make primary care more accessible. These centers are still reserved for members and are not community clinics open to the public, which means providers have more time to spend with each individual and can deliver personalized, convenient care. Like onsite centers, nearsite wellness centers offer care both in-person and digitally.

Our full network of nearsite centers is growing to include more than 140, the most of any company in our industry. We continue to expand this network, bringing accessible, comprehensive primary care services closer to home, such as preventive and acute care, pediatrics, behavioral health, women’s health, vaccinations, labs, and more. Your DCO can provide more details if you are interested in expanding access for your population. 

COVID-19 updates

COVID-19 remains top of mind for all of us, especially given the President’s recent announcement of the COVID-19 Action Plan, a six-pronged strategy to combat the virus. New regulations in the plan include:

• Requiring workers to be vaccinated or tested weekly
• Proof of vaccination or negative test for entry
• Increased testing and requiring masking for indoor activities
• Improving overall access to care for those who test positive

This plan impacts all of our clients, including Premise, and our teams are working around the clock to create a product that will support and guide you through any requirements while also keeping your employees and their families safe. We are in the final stages of developing a turnkey solution to address federal mandates from the COVID-19 Action Plan, and we will share more details when it is available.

The member experience is, and always will be, a priority for Premise. You’ll begin to hear more from us on this, as well as new strategies for member engagement, as we move into 2022. With the holiday season approaching, I hope you’ll be able to rest, recharge, and safely enjoy some time with your loved ones. We are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for our partnership with you in 2022. We’ll be in touch after the new year.

Be well,
Beth