An exhausting week – that didn’t have to be.

The week is almost over, and none too soon for your faithful reporter. In addition to new client work, deliverables for current clients, and trying to keep MCM up to date, we’ve also been dealing with the Texas…situation.
Word is we’ll get an emergency regulation today from the Division of Workers Comp that will allow PBMs to continue to operate after January first.
Let’s hope so.
While that’s welcome news rumor, we’re still stuck with the demise of other ‘voluntary networks that provide big cost savings for DME, home health, imaging, physical therapy and other services – services that together account for far more of the work comp medical dollar than drugs do.
In retrospect, we can all learn a lot from what happened in Texas – much of the problem that consumed far too much time from for far too many people was due to the unintended consequences of what can only be described as poorly worded legislation.
It is very tempting to put this behind us and get back to the other gazillion priorities that were shoved to the side while we were working our collective butts off to get this resolved. But before we do, lets reflect on lessons learned.
1. get in front of these issues early.
2. build coalitions by educating politically powerful forces about the potential adverse consequences of legislation/regulation.
3. listen when others come to you with similar scenarios, and think thru what it means for you, your operations, and your ‘customers’.
4. realize that no matter what you do or how much you prepare, there are going to be times when the stuff is going to hit the fan – be calm, have a plan, communicate, and persist.
Now I’m going to tackle the ‘real work’ that’s sitting on my desk.