First Health still without WC exec

Industry sources indicate that Coventry Health’s year long effort to find a leader for its’ First Health workers comp managed care entity has hit another snag.
Evidently the last candidate rejected an offer from Coventry within the last few days, leaving Coventry with an empty pipeline. The job has been open for about a year, and search firm Spencer Stuart has had the engagement for a few months.
Faithful readers will note that I reported Coventry was close to naming an exec a few weeks ago. For unknown reasons the deal could not get done. My take (based on nothing but idle speculation) is the workers comp business may well be more competitive and tougher than Coventry either knows or admits. Aetna’s Work Comp Access program appears to be gathering momentum; Concentra has not stumbled recently; and specialty managed care vendors such as MedRisk and CHOICE Medical Management are “hollowing out” First Health’s network business by taking out pieces of the network (PT and Florida respectively). First Health will be losing big chunks of business from two of its largest network customers this year.
Perhaps the candidates know they are not being asked to take over a thriving market dominator, but rather right the ship of a firm that has grown stagnant and stale.
What does this mean for you?
The right leader could return First Health to prominence in this sector. The longer this goes on, the more important it is to select – and sign – the right candidate.