the trend toward adding on-site physical therapy clinics is all about adding value to your most important resource: your employees. (Photo: Shutterstock)

This is a story of data. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 3 million on-the-job injuries occurred in 2018. According to the National Safety Council, a worker is injured on the job every seven seconds. Worker injuries result in significant disruptions and costs to many companies, as well as losses in productivity. Not to mention the impact on the well-being of employees.

There is a growing trend among employers of meeting employees where they are, especially when it comes to worker safety and benefits that support these issues. This trend spans industries, because, well, workplace injuries happen everywhere. No matter the role, or the physicality of the work.

Related: 3 workplace safety trends to keep your eye on in 2020

The most common workplace injuries—overexertion, slips, trips, falls and repetitive motion injuries—typically require some kind of treatment and ongoing support. But, a visit to the nearest clinic, or hospital, often isn't cost-effective or convenient for most employees.

To address this growing need, companies are taking a new approach. And again, it's about providing services and benefits that employees need when and where it's convenient for them.

With on-site physical therapy clinics, employees are able to seek treatment for injuries with minimal impact to their day. Because time, both in, and outside of work, is valuable.

Amenities in the workplace positively impact culture and employee retention. And benefits like on-site physical therapy clinics offer a valuable service to employees by providing access to treatment without leaving the workplace. What's more, these clinics positively impact the bottom line by helping prevent lost employee productivity and reducing overall health care costs.

Companies are already using these on-site physical therapy clinics to assist employees—and improve their bottom lines. As I noted above, this is a story of data.

For example, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company recognized its employees were its most valuable resource, but was concerned that employees weren't getting the care they needed. The solution: provide on-site physical therapy services.

For this company, providing access to a licensed physical therapist without having to travel off-site mitigated concerns related to insurance and third-party payers. Their belief: no employee should have to deal with authorizations, denied claims and restricted access when trying to address a workplace injury.

The decision to support employees with on-site physical therapy services was an easy one, from the ability to recover in a supportive environment to the convenience of not having to travel to and from appointments. With a focus on employee health, this company brought in two full-time therapists and a part-time physical therapy assistant to serve and advocate for the company and its employees' well-being.

This physical therapy team enables trust, building relationships with the employees and gaining direct knowledge of their work and its impact on their health. To-date, on-site physical therapists have saved the company more than $220,000 in direct and indirect costs.

Another example is an East Coast-based electronics company that fully understood healthy and happy employees are productive employees. To support that thinking, the company built a corporate fitness center that went above and beyond to include injury prevention and treatment services by way of an on-site physical therapy clinic on its main campus in New Jersey. The fitness center offers something for everyone, including a variety of cardiovascular and resistance training equipment, group exercise classes, educational seminars, fitness challenges and, yes, physical therapy services.

Staffed by two part-time physical therapists during both day and evening shifts, employees are able to address the most common issues they encounter through their work—repetitive motion issues, shoulder, and neck, thoracic and low-back issues. The best part of the fitness center is that it naturally supports the work of the physical therapists, as employees are often referred to the fitness center for therapeutic exercises as part of their treatment plan.

The results speak for themselves. The company has seen a 50 percent increase in the number of visits and 81 percent of treatment goals were met at the time of discharge. This alone is significant, but when translated to savings for the company equates to $119,976 in net savings. That is based on cost for services if provided by off-site clinic, as well as travel time.

In summary, the trend toward adding on-site physical therapy clinics is all about adding value to your most important resource: your employees. The data speaks for itself.

Brennan Russo, PT, DPT Cert DN is senior director of injury prevention and treatment at HealthFitness where he manages the quality and delivery of clinical services at client sites. He has an extensive clinical background with multiple director and leadership roles and takes pride in providing exceptional client service.

Read more: 

• Navigating employment status after a workplace injury
• Why a safe workplace is a profitable workplace
• Wearables are making the workplace safer