Hoosier Healthcare co-owner Donald Kiger went to see his physician in May for an annual test. About three hours and $250 later, Kiger left the office thinking there had to be an easier way to get preventive healthcare.

"There's a big market out there that's not being developed," said Kiger, company CEO and president. "We already had the clinic. We already had the experience. Why not build?"

And build he did.

Now Hoosier Healthcare's traditional occupational health center has opened its doors to the public. Its new Health eAccess program charges $25 per month for discounted medical services, unlimited access to physicians and practitioners, and discounted prescriptions through Fagen Pharmacy. Kiger said there are no other healthcare models like Health eAccess in the Midwest.

More than 200 patients have signed up for the program since it began in June. There are now locations in Portage and Valparaiso, with plans to open additional Porter County clinics.

The program does not work with insurance companies or other middlemen. There are no deductibles, co-pays or appointments necessary. Those not part of the Health eAccess program pay $75 for a walk-in visit.

Additional services beyond office visits, such as X-rays, hearing tests and injections, cost a small fee. Kiger said the cost is much lower than at other healthcare providers, because the program does not deal with insurance, Medicaid or Medicare.

Kiger said Health eAccess's for-profit model is the future of health care, and its startup is timely, given that leaders and policy-makers in Washington, D.C., are debating public programs and nonprofit cooperatives as potential pieces of national healthcare reform.

But Samuel Flint, an assistant professor of public affairs at Indiana University Northwest, said this model would help only a niche group of patients receive affordable care and is by no means a systemic solution. He said it just provides another healthcare option.

"The unfortunate part is the healthcare system is so fragmented," Flint said. "We need to reduce the fragmentation and duplication. ... We need to move toward a more comprehensive, uniform, electronic system."

Some patients see superior care

Kiger believes the Health eAccess program is the kind of grassroots innovation that will change health care in the United States.

"I believe healthcare reform is not going to change by regulations," Kiger said. "It has to change by the patient model and how a patient accesses health care."

Patient Lynn Wellsand, who has muscular dystrophy, agrees. She and her husband have catastrophic insurance that would cover them in extreme, unexpected circumstances, such as if they were diagnosed with cancer, but they do not have health insurance. Wellsand said she went to the Hoosier Healthcare clinic to get a prescription refilled and ended up joining the monthly program in July.

"I wasn't just a patient's name; I seemed to be a person," Wellsand said. "It made me feel like they take my health seriously."

She said the care and attention she was given, including a nurse practitioner's follow-up phone calls to check on how she was doing, inspired her to take better care of herself.

"I (had given) up checking my blood sugar every day," Wellsand said. "Now I'm faithfully testing my sugar."

Dr. Dean A. Shoucair, Hoosier Healthcare co-owner, medical director and medical review officer, said Health eAccess patients get more time with their practitioner or physician than patients at traditional primary-care offices, where low insurance reimbursement rates can force doctors to see up to 40 patients each day.

"I want to make sure the person is taken care of," Shoucair said. "I'm their advocate."

Shoucair said the clinic's one-stop-shop model also saves patients money. A suture that would cost about $750 in an emergency room would cost about $125 through the Health eAccess program, he said.

Small businesses embrace low-cost approach

Some area small businesses such as Family Mobile Medical Services in Merrillville are using the Health eAccess program as a way to offer its 150 employees affordable health care. Not having to keep track of premiums and deductibles is a plus for them.

"It allows us to offer our employees some sort of health plan," said Hilary Anderson, assistant to the company's president.

Anderson said the company's insurance rates were increasing about 40 percent each year.

"This year when it went up, it sort of priced us and our employees out of health insurance," she said.

In the past, the company was paying about $170 per month, per employee, for health insurance, Anderson said. Now it pays about $20 per employee for the Health eAccess program.

Programs like Hoosier Healthcare's are great at offering more access to health care, but it cannot replace insurance coverage, said Leigh Westergren, employee-benefit specialist with Anton Insurance Agency, with locations in Valparaiso and Chesterton.

"The Health eAccess program is going to provide an opportunity for people to come in off the street and see someone and not have to wait," Westergren said. "But as far as a health-insurance program, it is a provider, not an insurance program."

Westergren said it would be a great supplement for catastrophic insurance or for people with a high-deductible plan, where they have to pay thousands of dollars out of their own pocket before insurance reimbursements kick in.

"People can see someone for something minor, and they don't have to freak out about it because they have to pay until they reach their deductible," Westergren said.

CONTACT INFORMATION

You can contact Hoosier Healthcare at the following:

6615 S. Boundary Road in Portage, at (219) 787-8662, or 2590 Morthland Drive in Valparaiso, (219) 464-7073.