Staff to have access to ThedaCare services

By Angie Landsverk

Weyauwega-Fremont School District employees enrolled in the district’s health insurance may soon visit a clinic – at no cost to them.

The school board voted this fall to open a convenient care clinic through ThedaCare, at a cost of $30,700 to the district.

Initially, the district planned to have a near-site clinic in the front offices of its old middle school building, on Main Street in Weyauwega.

However, since the board’s vote, ThedaCare proposed housing the district’s convenient care clinic within its own facility in Weyauwega, thus eliminating the district’s need to reconfigure space in the old middle school.

The school district and ThedaCare are in the process of coordinating the plan to have the clinic within ThedaCare’s Weyauwega clinic.

Last week, district administrators, as well as ThedaCare representatives and the school district’s insurance consultants, toured the clinic.

District Administrator Scott Bleck said the near-care clinic is targeted to open when the second semester begins in late January.

It will be staffed by a nurse practitioner and be open eight hours a week, 48 weeks a year.

A schedule will be developed to support the common times of the year staff are typically on the campus, he said in regard to which 48 weeks of the year the clinic will be open.

Clinic hours will be established in four-hour blocks, two days a week.

Employees, as well as their dependents covered by the district’s health insurance, will be able to go the convenient care clinic for acute care.

The clinic’s services will include:

• Physical exams (including sports and school physicals).

• Lifestyle medicine consultations (diabetes, hypertension, depression, stress, high cholesterol, obesity, asthma, sleep apnea).

• Minor injuries (back pain, bruises, scrapes, cuts, burns, sprains, joint pain, athletic injuries, bites, stings).

• Minor skin conditions and treatment (rashes, athlete’s foot, hives, itching, dryness, removal of benign lesions, mole, wart and skin tag removal, suture removal).

• Consultations for minor conditions (respiratory, cough, runny nose, sore throat, sinus problems, allergies, ear problems, urinary problems, gastrointestinal problems).

• Pediatric services (cough, cold, sore throat, earaches, sinus problems, allergies, pink eye, rash, skin conditions, sprains, strains).

• Immunizations (Influenza, Tetanus, Hepatitis A/B).

• General lab draws.

The clinic will not provide surgeries, colonoscopies, orthopedic services, cardiology services, radiology services, obstetric services and procedures, gynecological procedures, lab processing, pathology testing, allergy testing, travel medicine, other immunizations and well baby care.

The convenient care clinic is meant to be an extension of an employee’s primary care provider, not a replacement of that provider.

Wellness efforts
For a number of years, the school district worked with Interactive Health to provide biometric screenings and health risk assessments for employees and their spouses.

The district currently spends $27,300 with Interactive Health to do so.

The district used those screenings as a premium incentive for its employees.

Ansay & Associates, the school district’s consultant, recommended the district reallocate those funds to an on-site clinic.

A risk analysis for the district showed that of the 259 members in its employer group, five of them were in the high risk profile.

Matt Kolling, of Ansay & Associates, told the board that in a group this size, he typically sees between 10 and 15 people having that profile.

The consultants recommended an on-site clinic as a way to more effectively manage risk, enhance lifestyle modifications and monitor claims.

The district presented the idea to its staff through informational meetings and then asked them to participate in an online survey about it.

Of the 81 people who responded, 80.25 percent said they would use an on-site clinic if it was provided to them.

Bleck said the majority of the funds identified for the development of the convenient care clinic are being repurposed from the district’s previous biometric testing protocol.

An analysis by Ansay & Associates showed 200 clinic visits per year would cover the $30,700 cost of having the on-site clinic open eight hours per week.

That translates into four visits per week.

The school district will continue to offer biometric screenings to employees and their spouses, if applicable, at a cost of $65 per member, Bleck said.

The screenings will be through ThedaCare, with that cost in addition to the $30,700 for the convenient care clinic.