Surgeons who are top performers in Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I, i.e. workers comp) program will no longer be subjected to utilization review hassles. 111 physicians have been identified as providing all necessary documentation to the state’s UR program, and all of the surgeries they recommended were approved. The result – they won’t have to ask permission anymore.
The UR program is run by Qualis Health, and focused on carpal tunnel, shoulder, and knee surgeries performed over a two year period. According to the report in Insurance Journal, the 111 surgeons’ results will be monitored over the next year.
“If it is determined that the number of unnecessary surgeries doesn’t rise as a result of less oversight, L&I likely will expand the program to train and include additional physicians.
L&I-funded studies, conducted by the University of Washington, show that injured workers who get prompt and appropriate medical treatment tend to recover and get back to work more quickly. That results in lower workers’ compensation claim costs and less missed work. One obstacle to receiving timely treatment is unnecessary delays in authorizing procedures.”
No kidding.
While it is gratifying to see that physicians who perform well get treated differently by managed care overseers, it is indeed frustrating to recognize that this is one of the few programs of its type, and managed care in the form of precert has been around for more than two decades.
Here’s hoping this is just the first of many intelligent decisions to identify the good docs and leave them alone.
What does this mean for you?
If you are a physician, perhaps a little hope. For managed care firms and folk who contract with them, get with the program. Stop monitoring everyone and start using that huge amount of data resident on your systems to identify the good docs.
Aug
15
