Team effort on care needed
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Medical providers treating injured workers for workers compensation and group health care purposes must better coordinate with each other to prevent drug interactions that can harm their patients, experts say.
“The most effective solution is for everyone in the care team to take an interest in the patient, with the benefits and the risk departments better communicating,” said Silvia Sacalis, Tampa, Florida-based vice president of clinical services for Healthesystems L.L.C. “There’s a firewall a lot of times.
They don’t talk to each other.” Dr. Sacalis said electronic medical records are helping to coordinate care among the various doctors that treat patients, but such records are years away from universal adoption.
Privacy issues also are a hurdle, she said. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act requires patients records to be kept confidential in the group health realm; but in workers comp, an injured worker’s medical condition can be shared with the employer.
Better coordination could be on the horizon, said Dr. Theresa Bartlett, Troy, Michigan-based vice president of medical quality at Sedgwick Claims Management Services Inc. “I think there’s a great opportunity for large employers to definitely partner and integrate with pharmacy benefit managers,” she said. “We are getting a little bit of interest in that from clients.”
Tom Ryan, New York-based market research leader for Marsh L.L.C.’s Workers’ Compensation Center of Excellence, said Marsh relies on a nurse case manager to catch with up with an injured worker after they leave the hospital — a follow-up that can help the patient sift through the medications they are taking.
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