internationalsos.com - Case studies
Case study: Improving a healthcare administration program
Running a healthcare plan for thousands of employees requires competent administration, excellence in case management, and a solid network of doctors, hospitals and health providers. When your company doesn’t have an adequate medical program in place, costs can escalate along with increased employee sick time and lowered productivity. The case study below illustrates how International SOS centralized oversight, management and reporting for a client’s healthcare management program bringing considerable efficiencies.
Service: Healthcare administration services
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Problem
Pierre Thibaut, HR Manager of a multinational mining corporation in Indonesia, inherited a healthcare program from his predecessor and saw the need for improvement. The existing program was uncoordinated and fragmented. Employees complained about having to wait too long to see a doctor and were unhappy with the quality of the medical care they received. The catalogue of problems included wrong diagnoses, inadequately trained doctors, poor hospital sanitation, long hospital stays, lack of equipment, incorrect prescriptions and spiralling costs. Pierre knew that changing the company's healthcare program would be a major challenge.
Solution Pierre contacted International SOS to help him deliver quality medical care while keeping a lid on costs. We conducted a full audit of the company's current health cover and made recommendations which were accepted. Firstly, International SOS centrally managed the healthcare program from Jakarta with a small team of a doctor, nurses and several administrators. Employees could contact this team via a dedicated phone line and get medical advice as well as referrals to our accredited network of primary care physicians, specialists, dentists, and hospitals. With this came total confidence that all the practitioners and facilities had been screened to ensure they met international standards of care. Many of these providers also offered cashless access to medical care for employees, so employees didn't have to pay for doctor's visits upfront. At the company's other sites in Indonesia, we implemented local solutions to improve access to healthcare. In Papua at a busy mine, we assigned a doctor and administrator to coordinate care and keep the onsite workforce healthy. International SOS conducted reviews of diagnosis and treatment and verified the amounts patients were billed. Pierre received monthly reports on what had been spent, on what and where, so that he could gain visibility on key health issues and identify preventative health and wellness programs for employees.
Impact
The survey results Pierre commissioned after 8 months showed a staggering improvement - employee hospital stays were reduced by 45%, savings on the healthcare budget of $130,000 USD were realized. Employee satisfaction increased. This was notably linked to the fact that employees had a much better level of healthcare with more accurate diagnosis, treatment and preventative care.
