Initial situation
Poor organisation of occupational health examinations: a lot of errors by the provider and its partner facilities resulting in the employee not being seen or having to pay for the appointment; splitting the examinations into two/three days or into different locations; not taking into account the employee’s preference for the place or time of the appointment; long waiting times.
There have been situations where pre-employment pre-examinations have not been carried out, creating additional costs and organisational difficulties on the client’s side, when the employee could not be allowed to do his/her job.
Problems with pre-employment examinations began to affect the whole programme: employees were alienated and often did not want to be covered by voluntary medical care despite employer funding. Compulsory examinations became a source of employee dissatisfaction and employer frustration.
In order to try to remedy the problems, the client was entering into unitary extra-paid partnerships with various clinics to arrange critical examinations on their own. This was generating unnecessary costs, as the flat fee for occupational health examinations for all employees was paid under the contract with the primary provider.
Goals and expectations
The client asked us to help them find a new healthcare provider, improve the terms of the programme and streamline their occupational medicine organisation.
Our activities
- To identify the source of the problem and analyse the client’s needs.
To capture the essence of the problem and consider possible solutions, in addition to talking to the client’s HR department and obtaining contract utilisation data from the medical care provider, we conducted an employee survey in consultation with the client.
During the analysis of the situation, it became apparent that due to the high dispersion of workplaces, it is sometimes problematic for the HR department to deliver the original referral for the initial examination to the new employee quickly. In addition, once the referral was received, employees often delayed calling the provider’s helpline to arrange testing. As a consequence, it was difficult for the provider to find a convenient date and examinations were already arranged after the start date. In addition, it was evident from the statements made by employees in the survey that employees were not fully aware of the possibilities and how the voluntary healthcare programme works.
- Implementing modern solutions.
First, based on the needs and expectations of the employer and employees and taking into account market opportunities, we developed the assumptions for the new programme. Once these were agreed with the client, we conducted a bidding competition taking into account various providers: both health insurers offering health insurance and medical companies offering subscriptions. We presented the client with a report detailing the capabilities of each provider.
We recommended the selection of a new provider providing:
- a large number of outlets throughout the country, including in smaller towns and cities – which translates into improved accessibility to services;
- acceptance of e-referrals for occupational health examinations – no need to provide the employee with a paper original;
- the handling of requests for occupational health examinations via the provider portal – the provider learns of the referral immediately, without additional notification;
- provider-initiated appointment scheduling of examinations – rapid contact between the helpline and the employee as soon as the referral is made, more time to select a convenient date and location for the examination;
- additional features in the service portal to facilitate the work of the HR department – e.g. reminders for periodic examinations.
In addition, we negotiated contractual provisions obliging the provider to carry out occupational health examinations within a certain timeframe after notification and allowing the client to reimburse the costs if it had to organise the examinations itself due to the provider’s failure to meet the deadline.
In order to improve employees’ perception of medical care, we prepared friendly communication to employees together with the new provider: leaflets and webinars explaining the scope of care and the rules of use.
Results
- Significant improvement in the timeliness of occupational health appointments, significantly reducing errors on the provider’s part.
- Relief for the client’s HR department.
- Increased employee satisfaction with the programme and an increase in the number of people who signed up for additional medical care.
Summary
The whole process from the Client approaching us to the implementation stage took approximately 3 months. The result was a change of provider and an improved and more computerised organisation of occupational health examinations, greatly facilitating the work of the HR department. We are currently monitoring the implementation of the programme by the provider on an ongoing basis, providing support to the client.