Imagine that your largest client just signed a deal with your competitor, feeling that the competitor would do a better job of meeting its needs. How would that news make you feel? Now imagine that the employer had 500 employees, plus an average of four members per family. The magnitude of the situation is apparent: not only have you lost access to those 500 employees for work-related care, you have potentially lost access to their 1500+ dependents for urgent/primary care.

Sounds pretty scary, doesn't it? Well imagine no more, because it's happening every day.

The best way to prevent the loss of your top clients is with employer partnerships. Building such partnerships is not a new topic. However, today's goals are broader than in the past. Employers expect healthcare programs to save them money with better management-not only of work-related injuries, illnesses, and exposures, but also the overall health of the covered individuals (employee and family members). Group health is creating opportunities for employer partnerships that occupational health programs should not overlook. In this article, we explore ways you can capture and retain work-related and group health business.

Define the Employer Partnership

First define the goals you want to achieve with employer partnerships. Then determine whether those goals are best met by reaching into a new market, retaining existing business, or growing within your current client base. The most important first step is to talk with your current client base in order to determine their wants and needs, and identify what you could be doing better.

Occupational health programs have the unique opportunity-and challenge-of serving two sets of customers: the patients and the employers. Each views the services provided from very different perspectives.

From the patient's standpoint, occupational health is often seen as the adversary. The department is not the patient's family physician and may only encounter the patient once, usually as the result of a workplace injury or as part of a screening or accident prevention program. Therefore, the opportunity to form a long-term, mutually respectful patient/physician relationship is missing. Consequently, employees view occupational health as the "company doctor" who has the employer's best interests in mind, not theirs.

On the other hand, employers expect the occupational health facility to be their advocate-the one department they can count on to manage medical costs, reduce lost work time, prevent inappropriate lost work time, and improve the overall health of their workforce. To the employer, the occupational health department is a key partner in keeping workers productive and the company profitable.

These differing perspectives can create a dynamic of tension that often complicates the customer relationship. Your challenge is to serve each and every customer in a way that manages the balance among patient/employee, company health officer, and state regulations, never losing focus of what is right for each one.

Asking the Tough Questions

How do you respond to these conflicting customer expectations? Start by asking some key questions. Your answers-though sometimes tough to acknowledge-set the stage for implementing a customer-focused service effort in your unique environment. ~ Have we clearly identified our customers? ~ How well do we know them and understand their needs?

• Do we understand the delicate balance that exists among the employer, the patient, and us?
• How does the way that we do business reflect our understanding of that balance?
• How are we measuring customer satisfaction?
• What issues have been identified?
• What issues have been addressed, and how?
• How do we communicate the changes we've made? ~ Have we clearly identified and communicated the role that we play to our customers?
• Do we have processes in place for delivering and managing customer expectations?

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