A growing number of Silicon Valley tech giants are giving employees access to healthcare services at onsite clinics through employer-paid healthcare benefits, according to a Leader-Telegram report.
Google, Apple and Facebook already offer these benefits for employees, who have access to physicians, nurses and therapists onsite. A growing number of other companies, such as LinkedIn, are providing similar benefits in clinics they fund close to campus.
Here are five takeaways from the report.
1. Experts say on-campus health services are thriving in Silicon Valley because they focus on preventive services that treat workers before their illnesses and pains become more expensive for their employer plans.
2. With the convenience of onsite clinics, employees are less inclined to put off a trip to the physician across town for persistent symptoms.
3. Under the benefits program, LinkedIn employees can use their smartphones to book a same- or next-day appointment at the clinic. They can then walk or bike there without having to take a day off work. LinkedIn also offers employees free rides to appointments from Lyft.
4. Physician-led medical companies, such as Crossover, Premise or One Medical, often run the programs. For example, at LinkedIn's Crossover clinic, employees can make appointments with a psychiatrist, psychologist, certified health coach, physical therapist, chiropractor, acupuncturist or optometrist. Employees are charged a $10 co-pay to use the clinic's services.
5. The employers, which have self-funded health insurance plans, do not have to bill insurance companies or accept payments from national carriers for the program. Instead, operators such as Crossover charge the companies a monthly fee for each benefit-eligible employee.