The CEO's role in reengineering health care.Private health insurance and occupational health (which includes workers' compensation workers' compensation, payment by employers for some part of the cost of injuries, or in some cases of occupational diseases, received by employees in the course of their work. ) cost U.S. businesses more than $1 trillion One thousand times one billion, which is 1, followed by 12 zeros, or 10 to the 12th power. See space/time. (mathematics) trillion - In Britain, France, and Germany, 10^18 or a million cubed. In the USA and Canada, 10^12. annually, but employers now have the opportunity to take control of these burgeoning costs. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] At $120 billion, the bill for workers' compensation is smaller than that of private health insurance. But with the advent of "employer-directed" strategies, the workers' compensation arena is taking a leading role in providing break-through reductions in health care costs. CEOs should take note, because recent developments in regulatory reform Regulatory Reform concerns improvements to the quality of government regulation. At the international level, the "OECD Regulatory Reform Programme is aimed at helping governments improve regulatory quality -- that is, reforming regulations that raise unnecessary obstacles to , medical-outcomes research and information technology now position them to successfully design and execute initiatives that will result in more effective and less costly health care for their workforces. Regulatory reform in high-cost workers' compensation states such as California and Texas allows businesses to access customized networks of occupational health care providers (physicians, medical clinics, and hospitals). Under these new laws New Laws: see Las Casas, Bartolomé de. , businesses will be able to direct their employees to "network members" that are experts at diagnosing, treating and healing injured in·jure tr.v. in·jured, in·jur·ing, in·jures 1. To cause physical harm to; hurt. 2. To cause damage to; impair. 3. workers--and returning them to work faster than other generalist gen·er·al·ist n. A physician whose practice is not oriented in a specific medical specialty but instead covers a variety of medical problems. generalist medical providers. Early results in California are encouraging: The average cost of workers' compensation has decreased by more than 20 percent since the inception of the new law in mid-2004. Occupational specialists across the country are linking medical outcomes research and treatment protocols--and using sophisticated technology to continuously improve the relationship between treatment "cause" and medical-outcome "effect." In fact, the new Texas law mandates the creation of occupational provider scorecards, thereby codifying a new level of accountability from medical professionals. These strategies, if also applied to private health insurance, offer businesses a way to increase the effectiveness of their total health care expenditures. CEOs must seize this unique opportunity to influence results in "employer-directed" states. By treating workers' compensation reform as a process-reengineering initiative (similar to supply-chain optirnization), CEOs will be able to achieve lower cost and higher quality patient care--satisfying results for both worker health and productivity and enhanced shareholder value. Comments? Questions? Call Dan Thomas Danny Lee Thomas (May 9, 1951 - June 12, 1980) was a Major League Baseball player who played for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1976 and 1977. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Thomas attended Southern Illinois University and was the 6th pick overall in the 1972 amateur draft. at (972) 725-6699. DAN THOMAS * PRESIDENT & CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , CONCENTRA |
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