Convince consumers of rehab benefits
They’re the ones who influence coverage
When health care providers complain that a managed care company is denying benefits to a patient, Colodio Owens, BS, MHA, suggests that they look at the other part of the equation the services the patient agreed to buy in his or her managed care contract.
"Everybody talks about convincing the managed care entities about the benefits of rehab. It’s not managed care you have to convince. It’s whoever purchases the health care package," says Owens, principal of Interface HealthCare Services, a managed care consulting firm in El Sobrante, CA, and author of a book on dealing with managed care companies.
With today’s cafeteria-style benefits packages, many companies offer a basic insurance package, plus options the employee chooses, Owens says. Some people may opt not to pay extra for extensive rehabilitation benefits, and then they are not available when needed, she explains.
Consumers are aware of basic physician, surgical, and hospital services, but on the whole don’t tend to think they will need rehabilitation, Owens says.
"The country is still reasonably ill-informed about rehabilitation, although within the past few months we have become more knowledgeable because of Christopher Reeve’s accident," she says.
She calls on the rehabilitation industry to come up with an education program to inform the public about the value of rehab.
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