Medical Treatment Network Savings – Random Chance or Established?
Medical treatment network savings can be elusive at best if not set up properly. This is one of the easiest ways to provide proper and timely medical care along with a gainful return to work.
Earlier this week, I received a text from our corporate credit card company, I thought that something negative occurred such as a fraud notice or something along those lines. Luckily, it was that I had used the card at a store that was in-network for some type of savings or discount.
That unfortunate situation reminded me to write an article on what can be a missed opportunity for employers to cut some of their worker’s comp costs by more closely looking at their medical treatment network savings and not just using them on a drive-by-only basis.
Long ago, one of my first articles for this website was on the Four (Now Six Keys) to cutting workers comp costs. Having a medical treatment network avoids losing medical control of a claim. Almost every worker’s comp carrier and TPA has a medical network that provides a 10% to 20% medical treatment network savings if an injured worker sees one of the listed medical providers.
Drive-By Only
When I refer to drive-by only, that is when you receive a discount like I did with our credit card company. If a medical treatment network is properly structured – four things occur:
- The injured employee receives the best medical care possible (most important)
- The injured employee returns to gainful employment
- The treating physician is industrial-based/minded and familiar to the claims staff
- The physician is in-network so the employer can receive various discounts
If it is emergency treatment, then getting the injured employee to the fastest medical care takes precedence over the above four.
Talk To This Person For Medical Treatment Network Savings
Who can better discuss the above four with you than your worker’s compensation claims staff or supervisor? To cut your company’s workers comp reserves (Total Incurred), use a treating physician that will work well with your claims-adjusting staff and injured employees in your carrier’s medical network. This situation is a win-win-win for all parties involved in a claim.
It is not recommended that you call your claims staff on every injury to see where to send the injured employee. This should be set up long before an injury. Medical treatment network savings comes about with a little planning.
