Written by Megan Santosus and Produced by Alexander N. Hortaridis for Exec Magazine
Concentra's mission is clear - improving America's health, one patient at a time. Exec learns more about the company's mission, vision, and values

High-quality customer service offered by the likes of Nordstrom’s, Southwest Airlines and Starbucks doesn’t come to mind when thinking of the healthcare industry. And therein exists an opportunity for Concentra, a $900 million healthcare company based in Addison, TX.

“We want to raise the bar of what patients expect from healthcare,” says President and COO Keith Newton. “By creating a retail-like experience for patients, we can exceed expectations.” In effect, Concentra’s philosophy centers on treating its patients with the respect, courtesy and individual attention found at the kind of companies that have built reputations for delivering high-quality customer service.

Historically, Concentra, which was founded in 1979, has focused exclusively on the area of occupational related healthcare services. Typically, such services involve worker’s compensation cases when patients are injured on the job and other services related to the workplace such as preemployment drug testing and physicals. Concentra has 322 stand-alone centers in 40 states offering a range of occupational health care services.

A typical health center has 6,000 to 7,000 square-feet and treats an average of 100 patients every day. Approximately ten of those 100 will be new patients who have been injured on the job and have gone to Concentra for initial treatment. Another 40 patients are evenly divided among those seeking follow-up care and those receiving rehabilitative care. The remaining 50 patients are undergoing random drug screens, pre-employment drug tests or work-related physicals.

Occupational Healthcare

According to Newton, Concentra is by far the leader in occupational healthcare, treating one out of every ten new patients who are injured on the job. Yet the market, which Newton estimates is worth $7 billion annually, is getting tougher. “As a healthcare company focused on occupational care, one of the challenges is reimbursement,” he says.

The reimbursement for worker’s compensation is highly regulated and governed by individual state fee schedules. This fragmented nature of the industry significantly affects Concentra’s ability to expand. For example, in Massachusetts where reimbursements for worker’s compensation are among the lowest in the country, Concentra only has three centers.

In addition, more automation, technology and outsourced employment has resulted in fewer worker injuries. And as employers hire fewer workers - as they are doing now - there’s a ripple effect on Concentra’s business.

"We are broadening our scope of services in order to expand and grow at a faster rate"

- Keith Newton

For these reasons, Concentra has begun to broaden its services to include group health and urgent care - situations where someone has the flu, asthma or other episodic illness and seeks medical attention. In urgent care cases, Concentra can accept numerous forms of payment including cash, Medicare and insurance. Often, the patients who require urgent care services don’t have a primary care physician and turn to emergency rooms for treatment.

“We are broadening our scope of services in order to expand and grow at a faster rate,” Newton says. The group healthcare market is about $30 billion annually and Concentra has already taken steps to increase its stake.

All of the company’s current centers now offer group health and urgent care. In addition, Concentra offers services at clinics located on-site at 300 employers. To prepare for entering the group health market, Concentra had to add new equipment to its existing centers, train the staff and enhance the company’s proprietary practice management system.

Acquisition

To accommodate future growth, Newton anticipates acquiring existing medical practices - something Concentra has done historically - as well as developing brand new centers. Unlike the existing centers which are located near employers in order to conveniently deliver occupational services, the new centers will be located in both residential and commercial areas. Eventually, Newton envisions a network of about 1,000 health centers nationwide.

To build its brand as it expands into new markets, Concentra is working with a third-party company that has experience consulting with retailers. “We want to have a much more consistent look to our centers and create a similar atmosphere and experience for our patients that consumers expect from a top retailer,” Newton says. Much like a retailer, Concentra is paying attention to location, interior aesthetics and the curbside appeal of its facilities.

The physical atmosphere is only one portion of Concentra’s strategy to exceed patient expectations. The company also aims to focus on patient needs first and trains its staff - from the receptionists up the physicians - to deliver superior customer service. When hiring new staff, Newton says that Concentra looks for people who have a customer-centric attitude.

Data analysis

Taking another page directly from retailers, Concentra has a data analytics group whose job it is to drill down into the data collected in the practice management system and analyze the practices that generate better outcomes.

“The number one problem employers face is the rising cost of providing benefits to their employees; we can be a solution for them"

140,000 employers currently, use Concentra’s services primarily for occupational healthcare. As the company continues to expand into broader healthcare services, Newton sees a huge opportunity to help these customers with a vast array of healthcare needs.

“The number one problem employers face is the rising cost of providing benefits to their employees,” Newton says. “We can be a solution for them; we have the biggest footprint, and the expertise to deliver high-quality care efficiently.”

Newton also sees a big opportunity in preventive and wellness care as employers - looking to trim healthcare costs - aggressively offer intervention programs for their employees. Data gleaned from Concentra’s practice management system - including blood test results and health risk assessments - can be used by employers to provide wellness programs tailored to their employees.

Concentra is the dominant player in the area of occupational healthcare services and Newton sees no reason why the company can’t reach the same level in the broader healthcare market. “No one out there has the scope of services and the locations that we can offer,” Newton says. “Getting into the broader healthcare market will open the doors to a larger population and bring our type of care to a new market.”