Hartford, CT -(BusinessWire)- Travelers (NYSE:TRV) recently announced that it will more than double its network of patented ConciergeCLAIM® Nurse sites to 30 locations across the United States, helping facilitate convenient access to care for injured employees with the personal assistance of a Travelers nurse to guide them through the workers compensation process.
Placing a Travelers nurse in a care provider’s clinic makes it easier for patients to focus on their treatment and return to work, while the nurse helps patients understand the workers compensation system, reviews their diagnosis and treatment plan and assists with referrals and other components of their care regimen.
“Businesses of all sizes face increases in medical expenses as a portion of their overall loss costs, particularly in workers compensation,” said Jim Wucherpfennig, Vice President of Travelers’ workers compensation claim services. “Increased demands on the healthcare system, an aging population and a limited supply of physicians could mean increased time out of work for injured workers because of longer waits to access medical care. The local and responsive nature of the ConciergeCLAIM Nurse program helps employees return to work sooner and reduces employers’ workers compensation-related costs.”
ConciergeCLAIM Nurse is part of Travelers Medical Advantage. This multifaceted program packages more than a decade of investments in infrastructure, specialized expertise, and data and analytics to effectively manage medical costs for Travelers’ customers across all casualty lines of business, including workers compensation, general liability and auto.
Travelers initially conducted a pilot of the ConciergeCLAIM Nurse program in 2010 and steadily opened additional sites in recent years in order to assess the model’s long-term sustainability and effectiveness. Early results achieved in the first phase of the program were impressive, including a 24 percent quicker return-to-work time for injured employees, a 29 percent increase in the use of network care providers, and five percent reduction in loss costs for employers.
The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) projects that the aging population and influx of newly insured individuals under the Affordable Care Act will contribute to an expected shortage of nearly 92,000 physicians by 2020. Stationing Travelers nurses within local care provider’s clinics streamlines the entire process, from assessing the injury and helping arrange for care on-site within the clinic or with other in-network medical providers, to providing assistance navigating the workers compensation claim process.
Wucherpfenning added, “Helping an injured employee navigate the workers compensation process is a huge benefit. A more personalized approach can help drive better health outcomes and simplify the claim process for both the injured worker and their employer.”
Source: BusinessWire