In workers' compensation, embracing evolution and transformation are critical to the future success of companies within the industry. Many of the root systems and procedures that worker's compensation is grounded and can come off as antiquated. Evolving forward and creating fresh ideas for the future of our industry are an absolute necessity to succeed within the managed care space.
Within the current climate of the workers' compensation managed care industry, companies seeking growth often acquire similar partners. Absorbing shares from competitors or buying other, like-minded businesses outright appear to be typical tactics for gaining traction. While these changes often benefit the shareholders and venture capitalists involved, the clients affected may be provided less client choice and independence in their decision-making. Time and time again we have seen these shifts and the clients ultimately get swept up in the wave of consolidation.
Can we gain traction towards greater savings and independence of client-choice simply by adjusting tools and building new technologies? EK Health believes so.
INNOVATION BORN OF CONSTRAINTS
One specific area where innovative gains can be monumental is in the bill review space. For decades, there have been a few large companies holding something of a monopoly over bill review services. This has limited client-choice and customization, resulting in increased cost.
Client, provider and adjuster frustration with bill review processes has increased in recent years due to system inefficiencies, limited access to data, and ambiguity of real savings. Alternatives are necessary to provide a fundamental variation in order to recapture control of the process and ensure quality results with efficient execution and transparency. We must deliver timely solutions with exceptional customer care to propel our industry forward.
INDEPENDENCE FOR ALL
After years of utilizing standard bill review solutions and gaining increased understanding of needs, EK Health made the determination to break the barriers, own the narrative and control the process. This resulted in EK Health building its own innovative bill review technology, Billtelligent™.
"Billtelligent™ began with a deep recognition of industry pain points. We actively identified 60 ways a bill could go wrong and put those exceptions up front in our process," said Eunhee Kim, Founder and CEO, EK Health Services Inc. "We created a technology that addresses the needs of our patients, our employers, our providers, and our processors. By building Billtelligent™, we are not just reducing processing pain points and bill turnaround times, we are breaking the siloed view of cost savings and providing timely payment with less friction on the back-end of bill review for providers."
By identifying challenges and creating innovative solutions that evolve within an industry in need of flexibility, managed care companies can control their own destiny. This one innovation alone, with its unique modular design enhanced by modern technologies, allows real time access; real time status; real time fixes - all before a bill is finalized. In addition, exception handling coupled with auto adjudication, allows a shift to a system with multiple access points, and ultimately, freedom of choice.
"Customized workflows and an easy-to-use interface provide relief for all. When we use external platforms, we are entered into a queue, taking away from our laser focused approach, and adding time to enhance the process. With Billtelligent™, we can identify, assess and implement changes for better depth of service in the immediacy – with real-time and NRT bases. These quick adjustments allow for us, along with our clients, to control our own destiny," Kim explained.
Kerri Wilson, President and Chief Operating Officer of EK Health continued that, "With Billtelligent™, we have direct access to PPOs, allowing us to create our own onboarding and custom network design. Billtelligent™ is the start of a new journey towards client-choice and decision-making in bill review. This freedom results in increased bottom-line savings and provider/client satisfaction at all levels. We are embracing independence that empowers us to serve our customers nimbly without bias, and placing solutions before profits."
True innovation is not just about meeting clients where they are currently, it is about setting them up for future successes and gains. Our greatest tool for the growth of the managed care industry is future-focused ingenuity. "Billtelligent's modular, cloud-based design has the capacity and structure to transform medical bill processing. The technology will lead us into the future with limitless customization potential and an efficiency that will benefit the payor and provider. Everyone wins," exclaimed Wilson.
An openness to create and a deep willingness to implement innovative solutions are what power EK Health to transform the managed care industry. EK Health, a privately-held corporation, is proudly standing in this space so that clients have choice without fear of acquisitional changes.
In the current climate of rising costs around supply chains, fuel, groceries, utilities and just about everything else, workers’ compensation managed care remains an area where companies can realize savings in order to impact the overall bottom line.
When quarterly projections start to veer off course, businesses research internal metrics and take corrective measures across all aspects of their operations. Budget projections increase, costs need to decrease and the balance between the two becomes ever slimmer.
As wallets tighten and responsibilities increase, protecting your most valuable asset – your people – becomes an even greater priority.
“Caring for the wellbeing of your employees, in particular those struggling through a work-related injury, promotes confidence and loyalty amid growing societal sentiments of institutional distrust. When employee care is entrusted to transparent partners who serve with integrity, passion within your organization builds and ultimately, production increases,” said Kerri Wilson, President and COO of EK Health.
EK Health takes a two-pronged approach in assisting our clients as they realize cost containment and savings during inflationary times without compromising care of the injured worker. First, it focuses on the humanization of case management and; second, it focuses on leveraging programs and processes to help clients achieve their savings goals without compromising employee culture.
