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Creating an industry: How Quadmed founded onsite health care
It is not often a company can say they paved the way for a new way of doing business -- but at QuadMed, we CAN and DO say that very thing. Onsite health care is no longer a new idea, but it was an idea that was started by QuadMed founder and CEO, Harry Quadracci in 1990. He wanted to create a more reliable and efficient way to deliver quality health care to his employees and their families. So that’s exactly what he did.
“We’ll keep you well; and by the way, if you get sick, we’ll take care of that, too.” These are words that as a company we live by, but to Harry, was just the right thing to do. Little did he know he would be transforming an industry, creating an investment that other companies would want to make as well.
The first onsite health clinic that opened its doors was at the Quad/Graphics plant in Pewaukee, WI in 1991. It was successful, not just in bringing in patients, but with concrete and extraordinary results. This model of onsite health care not only saved the company money by lowering health care costs, but it also did what its original goal was, it improved the overall health of its employee population.
Employees at Quad/Graphics have always viewed this investment into their health by the company they worked for as an attractive reason to want to work for Quad, as well as a reason to want to stay. With utilization rates of 90% or more, employees and their families are enjoying simple, accessible and affordable health care and Quad is enjoying a healthier workforce with lower health care premiums. How much lower? Quad enjoys over 30%* lower health care costs than the average Midwest employer. That cost savings adds up to millions of dollars Quad is saving on health care.
While the cost savings alone is enough to have made onsite health care a successful investment, it was just the tip of the iceberg. Common health concerns like diabetes, blood pressure, and high cholesterol all saw numbers that improved over the national average.
As QuadMed expanded its use of onsite health care to multiple locations, Harry having a casual conversation with another local CEO led to expanding the reach of onsite health care even further. This national manufacturing company became the first outside company to adopt the onsite health care model and employed QuadMed to do it. Following closely was a global food and beverage company, and the employer provided onsite health movement grew nationally from there. Turns out Harry was on to something, something big, something good, something that made sense, something that changed the health care industry for the better.
While QuadMed might not be the only player in the world of onsite health care anymore, the company continues to live by Harry’s example; to constantly innovate, to provide affordable, quality health care for employees across the country, and simply, do the right thing for the right reasons. Harry’s legacy will live on and QuadMed will continue to expand his original idea by continuing to push the health care industry in a healthier direction.
* Numbers verified by: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/case-study-quadmed-transforming-employer-sponsored-health-care
“We’ll keep you well; and by the way, if you get sick, we’ll take care of that, too.” These are words that as a company we live by, but to Harry, was just the right thing to do. Little did he know he would be transforming an industry, creating an investment that other companies would want to make as well.
The first onsite health clinic that opened its doors was at the Quad/Graphics plant in Pewaukee, WI in 1991. It was successful, not just in bringing in patients, but with concrete and extraordinary results. This model of onsite health care not only saved the company money by lowering health care costs, but it also did what its original goal was, it improved the overall health of its employee population.
Employees at Quad/Graphics have always viewed this investment into their health by the company they worked for as an attractive reason to want to work for Quad, as well as a reason to want to stay. With utilization rates of 90% or more, employees and their families are enjoying simple, accessible and affordable health care and Quad is enjoying a healthier workforce with lower health care premiums. How much lower? Quad enjoys over 30%* lower health care costs than the average Midwest employer. That cost savings adds up to millions of dollars Quad is saving on health care.
While the cost savings alone is enough to have made onsite health care a successful investment, it was just the tip of the iceberg. Common health concerns like diabetes, blood pressure, and high cholesterol all saw numbers that improved over the national average.
As QuadMed expanded its use of onsite health care to multiple locations, Harry having a casual conversation with another local CEO led to expanding the reach of onsite health care even further. This national manufacturing company became the first outside company to adopt the onsite health care model and employed QuadMed to do it. Following closely was a global food and beverage company, and the employer provided onsite health movement grew nationally from there. Turns out Harry was on to something, something big, something good, something that made sense, something that changed the health care industry for the better.
While QuadMed might not be the only player in the world of onsite health care anymore, the company continues to live by Harry’s example; to constantly innovate, to provide affordable, quality health care for employees across the country, and simply, do the right thing for the right reasons. Harry’s legacy will live on and QuadMed will continue to expand his original idea by continuing to push the health care industry in a healthier direction.
* Numbers verified by: https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletter-article/case-study-quadmed-transforming-employer-sponsored-health-care