A leading rehabilitation case management firm has expanded its immediate medical assessment (IMA) service for insurers and solicitors to deliver improved benefits for the injured party.
Health & Case Management will provide enhanced case manager access to clinical information and feed injured party satisfaction scores back to the referrer.
The company’s IMA work on acute musculoskeletal injuries is handled by skilled healthcare professionals using a clinically robust telephone triage.
Swift assessment and reporting is now underpinned by a new, bespoke Clinical Database Resource, designed by the company’s Medical Advisory Board and synchronised with HCML’s IT systems.
If appropriate during the lifecycle of the claim, the process provides pathways to allow the injured party access to more intensive rehabilitation to maximise recovery and return to work outcomes.
HCML claims this evidenced-based approach manages the injured party journey smoothly and consistently, offering an effective end-to-end case management service that provides swifter and more cost-effective claims administration.
Case settlement durations on one third party administration programme (TPA) were reduced from an average of five months to around one month.
The company says positive injured party feedback can contribute to enhanced brand profile for referrers. HCML now plans to provide its’ customers with more robust satisfaction scores and more detailed evaluation assessing added value from clinical outcomes.
Keith Bushnell, HCML’s chief executive officer, said: “On the back of our success providing early intervention IMA for the past six years, these improvements further strengthen our offering.
“HCML’s innovative stepped-care approach recognises the importance of empowering the injured party with timely information, guidance and advice.
“This can reduce the duration and cost of rehabilitation and ensures a clinically appropriate pathway for the injured party, avoiding the dangers of delays in assessment and treatment intervention and the possibility of over-medicalising conditions.”
The launch marks a watershed for HCML which has posted its maiden annual profit in 2011/12, driven by a 20 per cent increase in fee revenue.
Bushnell said a focus on innovation and delivering value-based solutions has been behind the firm’s recent success:
“This company has always been focused around clinical rigour, but our recent attention has been on giving a great service and improved outcomes to the injured party to match that.
“To achieve this we’ve better aligned ourselves with our customers’ objectives, invested in IT infrastructure and made greater use of our first rate medical advisory board.
“We’ve recruited 24 new case managers since March 2012 to service increased volumes of IMA work for musculoskeletal injuries and we are seeing accelerating growth in 2012/13.
“IMA volumes doubled to more than 19,000 cases in 2012 compared to 2011.”
