2015 NWCDC

Shaping the Future of Workers’ Comp

Boeing is innovating to improve both its workers’ comp outcomes and the quality of health care delivered to its workers.
By: | November 13, 2015

The reforms of the Affordable Care Act continue to transform models of health care delivery, and it’s only a matter of time before that transformation impacts workers’ comp medical management as well.

Chicago-based Boeing is trying to get ahead of the curve, embracing the reform tenets of accountable care, value-based pricing, and patient engagement.

Boeing’s Senior Workers’ Compensation Manager Lisa Kelly discussed the company’s efforts during a November 12 session at the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference® and Expo in Las Vegas.

Boeing has since been able to realize significantly improved outcomes and lower costs by working to direct injured employees to five-star ranked doctors.

She was joined by Greg Moore, founder of Harbor Health Systems and senior vice president of innovation with One Call Care Management, as well as Sedgwick’s Kimberly George, SVP, and senior healthcare advisor.

In 2010, Boeing partnered with Harbor Health and Sedgwick to get a better handle on the quality of care delivered to injured employees. They developed a scorecard to measure their doctors by factors including total costs, claim duration, litigation rate, TTD and recidivism.

Doctors were given rankings from one to five stars. The disparity across the scorecard was sobering.

Boeing has since been able to realize significantly improved outcomes and lower costs by working to direct injured employees to five-star ranked doctors.

Additionally, Boeing recognized how the overall health of employees impacted its workers’ comp costs and overall productivity, and created partnerships to form two accountable care organizations to provide quality care and truly affordable coverage.

The relationship between comp and health care is changing, the presenters said, and it’s important for the workers’ comp world to play an active role in shaping the future direction of medical-care delivery.

“This change is going to happen, whether we bury our heads in the sand or not,” said Moore.

Michelle Kerr is Workers’ Compensation Editor and National Conference Chair for Risk & Insurance. She can be reached at [email protected].

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