Union Health Service

About Union Health Service

We are described as many things, such as — a Voluntary Health Services Plans Corporation; a multi-specialty medical group; a not-for-profit health plan; or a staff-model managed care plan. Maybe it is simply best to call us "Union Health Service" or “UHS” — a tradition of providing high quality and cost-effective benefits to groups covering Chicago-area union members. Good ideas often pass the test of time. Many aspects of the way in which Union Health Service provides healthcare were innovative when we were organized in the 1950s. The innovation even required the passage of a new Illinois law (the Voluntary Health Services Plans Act) so that we could directly provide insured health care services through our own staff of physicians. Key provisions of the Act address: free choice of any staff physician; the private physician-patient relationship; confidentiality; no restrictions on the physician’s methods of diagnosis or treatment; and the inclusion of physicians in the company’s top management. We took advantage of the new law to encourage members to select a primary care physician (PCP) who, in turn, is involved in all aspects of the member’s care — coordination with specialty physicians; health education, and providing preventive services as well as follow-up care. Other “ahead-of-their-time" programs installed at UHS included: podiatry; colon cancer screening; electronic medical records; nutrition counseling. And eventually good ideas catch on. The news is full of stories these days about encouraging health care trends, such as, the prominence of primary care physician, preventive care, health education, and electronic medical records. We agree; and have done so for a very long time.