Can you deliver 23% workers’ comp savings?
Employers demand managed care reduce costs
Employers are buying into workers’ comp managed care plans, but they expect those plans to deliver an average of 23% in overall cost reductions over traditional workers’ comp plans, according to the second annual survey of employers commissioned by MetraComp, a return-to-work company in Tampa, FL.
What else do employers expect of their workers’ comp managed care plans? Survey findings include the following:
• Employers cited case management services as the second most valuable managed care service.
• Employers cited return-to-work programs as the No. 1 managed care service. Seventy-six percent of employers surveyed used a return-to-work program.
• Employers cited provider networks as the third most important managed care service, and bill review as the fourth.
• Employers said overall quality of service was the most important selection criterion for a managed care plan.
• Employers cited ability to comply with state workers’ comp mandates as the second highest selection criterion.
These results show significant changes from MetraComp’s 1995 survey, which ranked network providers as the most important managed care plan selection criterion, with quality of service second and ability to work well with staff as third.
Show me the savings
Outcome reports have taken on greater importance, with 70% of employers reporting that they routinely receive outcomes and benchmarking reports from their workers’ comp managed care plan. These reports include:
• gross medical savings;
• net medical savings;
• ratios of medical dollars saved to dollars spent on managed care services.
Employers report that the outcomes reports they receive typically do not include case-closure rates by type of injury or illness, indemnity savings per claims, or the impact of managed care on premiums. Only 6% of employers surveyed reported receiving outcomes reports on the impact of managed care services on premiums.
Surveys were mailed to 1,000 employers nationwide with 10,000 or more employees. Fifty surveys were returned for a 55 response rate. Most respondents served as risk managers for their companies, and more than 50% renewed their managed care contracts annually. These figures represent an increase over MetraComp’s 1995 employer survey, which found that only 43% of employers renewed their managed care contracts annually.
[Editor’s note: For more information, contact: MetraComp, 5130 Eisenhower Blvd., Tampa, FL 33634. Telephone: (813) 806-2000.]
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